Nintendo Isn't Happy With Its Profits on Mobile

Nintendo isn't happy with how it is doing on mobile. Why? Because according to president Tatsumi Kimishima, it has not "reached a satisfactory profit point" on the platform.

Kimishima failed to reveal any specific figures or provide any further details on how unsatisfactory it is doing on mobile or what its expectations for the platform is, however he did ensure that Nintendo is committed to growing in the area.

"The efforts we have made to date have yielded certain responses to our goal of expanding the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP," said Kimishima. "Even so, we have not reached a satisfactory profit point yet, so our goal is to further expand the scale of this business to develop it into one of the pillars of revenue."

The news comes via a recent earnings call Nintendo had that was led by the aforementioned Kimishima. And while he was indistinct about on Nintendo's performance, he did divulge a few tidbits that provide insight into the company's new initiative to break into the mobile market.

Kimishima reported that Super Mario Run maintains a healthy 20 million monthly active uers, with downloads continuing to grow month to month. Monthly users specifically seemed to peaked back in October after a steady increase in the months leading up, but then quickly leveled back out to previous numbers.

Meanwhile, Fire Emblem Heroes continues to grow in terms of net sales, as well as successfully expand into a variety of different territories.

Interestingly, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was featured less during the earnings call. The game noticeably had a vastly inferior launch compared to Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run, generating only $20 million in its first two months. So it makes sense Nintendo wouldn't want to focus on it during an earnings call supposed to encourage stakeholders and investors, not flaunt shortcomings.

The one detail Kimishima did provide was confirmation that Nintendo will continue to support the game and do what Nintendo does best: "make the game more fun." To do this, Nintendo will be pumping out regular content updates, release weekly events, and advertise further in Japan via television commercials.

With three games shipped, Nintendo's feet are firmly planted in the mobile space. However, its arrival on the platform hasn't exactly been very fruitful, for either it or the customer. It will be interesting to see if this changes in 2018, which looks poised to be another big year for the Nintendo Switch, but at the moment, looks to be another disappointing year on the mobile front.

Thanks, Games Industry.