Nintendo Switch will not have a browser at launch

When the Nintendo Switch comes out on March 3, the device will not have an internet browser. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says so in an interview with Time. There may be a browser later, but when is not clear.

In the interview, Kimishima says Nintendo has focused all its efforts on making a “great gaming platform.” He does not say whether there will be a browser later, but the CEO states that the functionality is absent at the release. With that, the console maker seems to keep the option open to add browsing functionality later. At the end of January, Nintendo announced that the Switch also does not support streaming services for movies and series upon release.

In the interview, Kimishima also discusses the success of the mobile games Nintendo has released so far. He says Fire Emblem Heroes has been downloaded over a million times and the free-to-play game has grossed $5 million so far. The game was released on February 2 for Android and iOS. Fire Emblem Heroes is free to download, but contains microtransactions.

Kimishima says Nintendo is experimenting with different revenue models for mobile games. For example, Fire Emblem Heroes contains microtransactions, while with Super Mario Run the full game can be purchased with one in-app purchase. The Mario game has been downloaded 78 million times and Nintendo hopes that more than 10 percent of players will pay for the game. That is not yet the case, but according to the CEO, Nintendo is “over half” of that target.