Fire Emblem Heroes has been out for a week, and we just learned, via Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima's interview with Time, that the free to play TRPG available on iOS and Android has generated more than $5 million USD in revenue. This is yet another indication that Nintendo was wise to invest the smartphones games market.
According to the president, the company is currently trying different business models: "As a result of these experiments with monetisation styles, we're gaining what you could call confidence in our mobile business efforts."
By launching into the smartphone market the company had three specific goals in mind. The first was to allow its franchises to reach consumers possessing a smartphone but no consoles. The second was to increase the popularity and visibility of Nintendo's iconic characters and use the buzz around the apps to draw more players to the main licenses as with Pokémon Go for the Pokémon series. And finally, the third goal was to make the mobile branch a pillar in itself and thus benefit from the juicy app market.
After the success of Fire Emblem or Mario, do you think we'll see new Nintendo's franchises on smartphones anytime soon?