Nintendo shows signs of giving up on the smartphone gaming market altogether

Nintendo once had great hopes for ports of its console or classic games to Android and iOS. However, a new report by Bloomberg suggests that these apps are now failing the software company’s expectations.

Its mobile-gaming division’s revenues did gain 11% year-on-year (YoY) in its 2019 fiscal year. However, this is reportedly not enough for Nintendo: admittedly, its most promising titles, including Dragalia Lost, Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, have lost 41%, 24% and 19% in terms of their YoY earnings between February and May 2020 respectively.

The latest stats suggest they are indeed fast losing traction in a market dominated by the likes of Tencent and Epic Games. The latest version of Animal Crossing for the OEM's Switch console, on the other hand, is now linked to Nintendo's highest share price in 12 years.

These are indeed strong indications that the same OEM may be ready to depart the mobile-gaming space: it has no plans to follow its latest mobile game (Mario Kart Tour) with another new title this fiscal year.

This is is somewhat of a shame, particularly as the company's president, Shuntaro Furukawa, was once quick to acknowledge its potential to become a billion-dollar market: in fact, the latest projections put its potential value at ~US$77 billion.

Furthermore, Nintendo has reportedly been reluctant to adopt a microtransaction-based revenue-building model that may, ironically, contribute to its current disillusionment with the smartphone-game market.