Nintendo Is Shutting Down Its First Smartphone Game Only Two Years After Launch

Nintendo's first mobile game, the Mii-based social networking app Miitomo, is coming to an end. Nintendo announced it will discontinue services for the title on May 9, a little over two years after it first launched.

"We see this app as accomplishing a portion of our goal of getting Nintendo IP (in this case, Mii characters) into the hands of consumers across a variety of environments worldwide," Nintendo said on its support website. "At the same time, we've seen the number of ongoing users for the app decrease. We have decided to discontinue this service so that we can better optimize our operational resources across our entire smart device business."

Miitomo will be discontinued in all regions simultaneously at 12 AM PT / 3 AM ET, after which point players will no longer be able to launch the game. Any Platinum Points you have earned from Miitomo can still be redeemed on My Nintendo, and Sidekick Miis can be saved as QR codes and transferred to the Mii Maker app on 3DS and Wii U. However, players will not be able to formally save any Miitomo content, such as conversations or answers, outside of taking screenshots of it.

Ahead of Miitomo's shutdown, Nintendo has removed all in-app purchases from the game. The company is also holding a Final Thank You Festival event leading up to its final day. Players will receive 2,000 Miitomo coins and 5 game tickets as a daily login bonus up until the service is discontinued. Nintendo is also running a final Miifoto event from now until April 18 that asks players to create a photo of their favorite Miitomo memories and share it on Twitter. The best entries will be posted on the official Miitomo website.

Miitomo launched for iOS and Android in March 2016 and was notable for being Nintendo's first game for smart devices. As of October 2016, the app was approaching 15 million downloads, though it wasn't making very much money. Nintendo has released a handful of other smartphone games after Miitomo, including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and most recently Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. A Legend of Zelda mobile game is also reportedly in the works.