Nintendo has launched Super Mario Run, its first game for iOS, and found itself worth $2 billion less than when it started.
The game received huge amounts of hype for its combination of nostalgia and excitement, and as a signal that Nintendo might look to move more of its games off its less popular consoles. But it has already been hit by some backlash, over its high price and a mode that means it will only work if players have an internet connection.
Those concerns appear to have dragged down Nintendo’s share price, which fell by about 5 per cent in the wake of the release. That meant that the value of the company dropped by around $2 billion.
The game is free to download. But for Nintendo to make any money off it they will have to encourage people to pay the $9.99 fee to unlock it, which is triggered when the player has made their way through the early levels.
That might be more tough because of the backlash that has greeted the game in its early reviews. While being praised for bringing the Super Mario characters back to life on the App Store, it has also been criticised for the online-only mode and the fact that it borrows its mechanics from other popular games.
That hasn’t stopped the game from shooting to the top of the App Store, however, and it is the most popular app available on the iPhone at the moment.
It hasn’t yet been released for Android – and a run of knock-off versions have done – but Nintendo has said that one will be coming to the Play Store at some point.
Nintendo’s share price surged in the wake of the announcement, but has struggled since. The same thing happened with the release of Pokemon Go, which led to a huge increase in the value of Nintendo – until people realised that it didn’t actually make any money from the popularity of the game, and its valuation fell again.
