Nintendo will release two to three smartphone games a year

Nintendo will release two to three smartphone games every year from 2017 onwards. In December, Nintendo released its first iOS game, Super Mario Run, and the company expects that game to be downloaded 100 million times on the Apple platform.

Takeshi Kimishima, CEO of Nintendo, mentions the number of two to three new games per year in an interview with Kyoto NP. At the presentation of quarterly figures in April, Nintendo already announced that it is working on mobile versions of Fire Emblem and Animal Crossings. More details about upcoming games have not been disclosed.

Nintendo hopes that the release of smartphone games will also have a positive effect on sales of the new Switch console, which will hit the market in March. Nintendo probably hopes that more people will come into contact with its games by releasing the games on mobile devices.

This week, Nintendo announced that 40 million people downloaded Super Mario Run for iOS in the first four days of its release. The game is free, but to play more than the first three levels, you have to pay 9.99 euros. Nintendo has not disclosed how many people do that, but according to research by analyst firm App Annie, four percent unlock the entire game.