Nintendo is continuing to push forward with new mobile titles, and the latest will be Mario Kart Tour, out sometime this year. But only one game has been a clear, monstrous success for Nintendo so far, other than projects they have a part-stake in like Pokémon GO. That would be Fire Emblem Heroes.
If you’re like me, you’re still seeing ads for Fire Emblem Heroes on places like Instagram almost every day, and for good reason. According to new data from Sensor Tower, Fire Emblem Heroes has grossed Nintendo $300 million in its first year of release. That’s almost five times what Super Mario Run made Nintendo in its first year, and tracking ahead of other releases like Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. That said, it’s still well short of something like Supercell’s Clash Royale, which did about 3x that its first year.
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The reason behind Fire Emblem Heroes’ success is not a great mystery. Obviously Fire Emblem is an extremely popular series with beloved characters, which is part of its appeal, particularly in Japan where the game is especially huge. But it’s making so much money because of its gacha model where players can spend money for a shot at getting specific 3, 4 and 5 star heroes. While there’s no literal loot box as you “summon” these heroes at the cost of orbs, it works effectively the same way as loot boxes with slight tweaks.
Nintendo has publicly said in the past that this is not the monetization model they prefer, and they’d rather price games like they did Super Mario Run, which demands a one-time payment from fans. So far, however, they’ve done something different than both games going forward. Animal Crossing Pocket Camp is not a gacha game, nor is it something that demands a one-time payment. It has the more standard model of being a free-to-play game with scattered microtransactions inside.
But given how well Fire Emblem Heroes has performed compared to its siblings, you have to wonder if Nintendo is planning more games like it. Knowing Nintendo, I kind of doubt that we’d see Mario Kart Tour adopt a gacha model. My guess for that game is that it will be free to start and players will pay to unlock additional karts, racers and tracks. But that $300 million number has to be looming large in Nintendo’s minds all the same. I previously suggested that a Super Smash Bros. adaption for mobile could work with the gacha model, as players collect 1-5 star fighters, though I imagine there would be some pushback from purists against that.
Nintendo is company that will simply do what it wants, which means that if they really don’t like the gacha model, even if it’s clearly profitable, they may continue to steer away from it all the same. But then again Fire Emblem Heroes players don’t seem to mind, so if there’s a way to find a middleground of profit, fun and player satisfaction, it seems wise to pursue that.
Nintendo’s mobile rollout continues to be fascinating, and hopefully we’ll find out some more info about Mario Kart Tour soon.
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