Super Mario Runmakes $14 million in its first three days of availability, with just over 1 million players paying to unlock the full game, says analytics firm App Annie.
Nintendo’s new mobile platformer,Super Mario Run, has already brokenApp Store download records. By that metric, it is clearly a hit, but as the game is free-to-start with just a small section of the game being available for free, the biggest indicator of success for Nintendo is just how much moneySuper Mario Runhas made.
According to analytics firmApp Annie,Super Mario Runhas been successful in terms of revenue as well. The firm says that the game made a whopping $14 million in its first three days on sale (December 15 - 17), with an estimated 1 million players or so having paid $10 to unlockthe title’s gameplayin full. The game is expected to make over $70 million in its first month and it seems that it is well on its way to achieving that.
App Annie suggests that just 4% ofSuper Mario Run’s37 million playershave converted to paying customers. However, as publicity for the game was “unprecedented” and cast a wide net, including mobile gamers who may be “extremely unlikely” to pay, this is understandable.
It’s also interesting to see howSuper Mario Run’s paying customers breakdown in terms of territory. The analytics firm explains that players in the United States accounted for a massive $8 million (55%) of that $14 million figure. For comparison, the country only accounts for 25% of the global spend on iOS games. The UK accounted for 4% of the global spending on the game (the region accounts for just 2% of iOS games spending, globally) while Japan was responsible for 20% which was “expected.”
Additionally, the data says thatSuper Mario Runhas three million daily active users. This year’sothermobile hit,Pokemon GO,lost 15 million players(approximately a third of its daily active userbase) about a month or so after hitting its “peak” user figure, so it will be interesting to see ifSuper Mario Runexperiences a similar drop off, or if the game’s fairly accessible gameplay will keep players occupied for longer.
Another big question is how this will affect Nintendo’s bottom line.Nintendo’s stock price droppedfollowing middlingSuper Mario Runreviews, with analysts expressing concerns over its $10 price point and a lack of future content. It has yet to be seen whether this latest data will get analysts to change their minds and whether it will make stockholders feeling a little bit more optimistic, but Nintendo will have its fingers crossed for this, as well asSuper Mario Run’s continued success.
Super Mario Runis now available on iOS. An Android release is expected in 2017.
