Nintendo’s Super Mario Run is a hit. The first Mario game for iPhone generated millions in revenue in the first days after launch, as millions of fans installed the app on their iOS devices. But it wasn’t a perfect launch for the game. The game received tens of thousands of poor reviews, and Nintendo’s monetization choices for Super Mario Run were questioned. You have to pay a one-time $9.99 fee to unlock the full game after playing the first three levels of the game.
Since then, Nintendo has apparently revealed that it doesn’t plan on adding any additional content to Super Mario Run. And then it did release a new feature for the game.
A Nintendo spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Nintendo doesn’t plan to release any Super Mario content, free or paid.
That’s certainly one disturbing revelation. Developers often release updates for their mobile games to keep players interested. Pokemon Go is one such example, as Niantic is releasing new features on a regular basis.
“If you were hoping that Mario would perform like Pokémon, then Mario clearly didn’t achieve its mission,” Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda said. “But that was placing expectations too high because the Mario game’s business scheme is so different from Pokémon.”
“The game should have either asked players to pay when downloading or given more free content if they were to pursue a free-to-download model,” former Nintendo game director Motoi Okamoto said, adding that he already finished the game.
While Nintendo may not be adding other levels or worlds, it may still add new features to Super Mario Run. That sounds pretty confusing.
The company rolled out a minor update earlier this week, supposed to add a Christmas tone to the game. Then, Nintendo released a friendly run feature that doesn’t require you to spend any in-game tickets.
According to Phone Arena, the Friendly Run mode lets you race your friends. But it gives out no rewards, given that it’s free to play. Annoyingly, this feature only gets you one run per day until you unlock the game by paying the $9.99 fee.
