Super Mario Run Hits 200 Million Downloads But Nintendo Says Its Profit Is Still Unacceptable

Super Mario Run has now passed 200 million downloads worldwide, up from 150 million. That's a massive number, but Nintendo doesn't see the game as having an acceptable level of financial success yet. As part of its latest earnings report today, Nintendo said that Super Mario Run has "not yet reached an acceptable profit point." This follows comments from Nintendo about how the game had not made the kind of money that it hoped.

Despite that, Nintendo said the game has helped the company learn "a lot" about mobile game development, knowledge it will use with its other projects going forward.

Also in the report, Nintendo clarified that downloads in the company's home country of Japan amounted to only 10 percent, or 20 million, of total worldwide downloads. Nintendo added that its goal with Super Mario Run is to make it the "definitive Mario application for smart devices." As part of its effort to do this, Nintendo mentioned the game's big 3.0 update that came out in September and added a new mode, stages, and a character.

"We also ran campaigns to foster more interest, including a special price offer for a limited period, to commemorate the release of the new version," Nintendo said. "Although we have not yet reached an acceptable profit point, we have learned a lot in terms of game development and deployment that we want to take advantage of moving forward."

Additionally, a slide showed that the September update for Super Mario Run helped bring players back to the game. As you can see, the "weekly user trend" figures jumped significantly following the release of the update.

Super Mario Run is a "free to start" game that lets you play some levels, before asking you to pay $10 to unlock the rest.

Super Mario Run is available on iOS and Android phones. GameSpot awarded it a 7/10 in our Super Mario Run review. Critic Peter Brown said the game "offers great platforming and that distinct Mario charm that Nintendo's perfected over the years" but was "on the easy side and bereft of a long-lasting platforming adventure."