Nintendo Wants To Release 2-3 Mobile Games Every Year

Nintendo plans to offer a steady stream of mobile games in the years ahead, it said as part of a recent meeting with investors.

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima indicated the company will release two to three mobiles games annually, Reuters reports. He didn't indicate what percentage of those would be developed internally versus at DeNA, with which Nintendo formed a mobile game partnership in 2015.

It's possible that figure reflects Nintendo's better grasp of the time necessary to develop worthwhile mobile games. For more than a year, it said it would release a total of five apps by the end of March 2017, including Miitomo. With the Animal Crossing mobile game delayed until at least April, it will instead only reach three between Miitomo, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem Heroes, which debuts this week.

Details regarding the fifth mobile app Nintendo planned to release by April have never been shared. It seems likely Nintendo will continue to leverage its existing franchises for future mobile games, but which ones are anybody's guess.

Kimishima reiterated the company's goals for its mobile business during a presentation with investors this week, stating, "We would like to utilize smart devices as a platform to reach the maximum number of consumers with our IP. It is a prerequisite that the smart-device business be profitable on its own. We also aim to generate synergy with our dedicated video game systems business to maximize the potential of Nintendo's overall business strategies."

One approach the company has repeatedly expressed no interest in pursuing is porting existing games to mobile devices.

Fire Emblem Heroes, Nintendo's first free-to-play mobile game, launches tomorrow on iOS and Android. You can read more about what to expect here.