Is Nintendo abandoning mobile?

Without a doubt, Nintendo is a fantastic company. Thanks to their high bar of quality, they have been the home to countless classic franchises. From Mario to Samus, it’s impossible to name all the characters who have impacted pop culture. Clearly, they’re doing something right. But that’s not to say they’re completely flawless when it comes to their business practices. They have tons of issues with pricing, internet gaming, and most recently, mobile gaming.

You may recall a few years back that Nintendo announced their intention to dive into mobile gaming. We saw games like Super Mario Run and Pokémon Go hit it big, and they haven’t stopped. Games like Fire Emblems Heroes seems to have done them well, but then you have products like Mario Kart Tour. These games…well, they brought out the worst in Nintendo. After testing the market, it became clear that they could only hit the numbers they want by engaging in more predatory practices.

I know there are plenty of Nintendo fans who absolutely hate how much work is required to unlock Mario in Mario Kart Tour. What’s more is that, in spite of their big successes, they don’t have a lot of hits, per Bloomberg. As such, it made sense when Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa made his recent statement.

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“We are not necessarily looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market,” he said.

And while that may seem like a bad thing given how Nintendo can’t seem to hit it big consistently with their mobile games, it’s actually kind of a good thing. If you’ll recall, the decision to dip into mobile gaming came amid the Wii U’s failures. With the Switch doing gangbusters, the focus on mobile gaming seems…shortsighted. 

In spite of what many predicted in regards to handheld gaming — in that it would die thanks to smartphones — Nintendo’s Switch seemed to prove this wasn’t the case. While it may ultimately be short-lived, there does seem to be a market for dedicated handheld systems. The fact that you can switch to the big screen with Nintendo’s latest console certainly helps.

“In a sense, Nintendo’s enormous success on console reduced the need and the pressure to put resources into mobile,” said Serkan Toto, a mobile games consultant in Tokyo. 

I’m happy to see this focus away from mobile gaming. As excited I was at first, the games they developed weren’t really worth a damn. Better for them to focus on their current big hit and lay the groundwork for its successor. 

Are you sad to see Nintendo pulling back on mobile games? Sound off down below!

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SOURCE: Bloomberg