After originally debuting at Apple’s keynote back in September, Super Mario Run officially launched on iOS this past week to much fanfare. The app saw massive download numbers and raced to the top of the App Store charts, both in terms of downloads and revenue.
Nearly a week later, however, and a new report from the WSJ details how Super Mario Run isn’t living up to the expectations for Nintendo and investors
Many investors in Nintendo are worried about the overall profitability of the game, according to the report, as well as early mixed reviews from players.
In Super Mario Run, players are given one chance to pay: a $9.99 in-app purchase to unlock the upper levels of the game. Investors point to games like Pokémon Go as having more lucrative profitability thanks to scattered in-app purchases for in-game incentives.
Some hoped that Nintendo was planning additional content to make the game more lucrative in terms of profitability, but according to the report, Nintendo is not currently planning any additional content for Super Mario Run on iOS.
In addition to this being notable for investors, it may frustrate some players who had hoped Nintendo was finally betting big on iOS as a gameplay platform. While this doesn’t rule out additional games from the company, it means that aside from bug fixes, Nintendo is essentially done with Super Mario Run less than a week after releasing it.
This, of course, is much like what you would get with a console game from Nintendo in that you buy it upfront and play through it as many times as you’d like.
Super Mario Run is a pretty in-depth game as it is, though, so more content likely isn’t a primary concern of most players as of right now. Hopefully, Nintendo is planning more games for iOS down the line. Mario Kart, anyone?
