Nintendo to stick with Super Mario Run payment formula?

Nintendo’s Super Mario Run has finally come to Android this week, following the iOS version when it comes to the payment structure. That means the first few levels are available for free, but you’ll need to splash out to unlock all of them.

By contrast, Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes mobile title is free-to-play, with people being able to make optional in-app purchases.

According to Nikkei, the former approach meant that Super Mario Run didn’t meet Nintendo’s lofty sales expectations. Don’t expect a move to the free-to-play formula though.

“Heroes is an outlier,” a senior Nintendo official told the publication. “We honestly prefer the Super Mario Run model.”

When can you expect Nintendo’s next mobile title then? The company confirmed in a January earnings report that mobile-bound Animal Crossing will be coming in the next fiscal year.

Nevertheless, Nintendo is currently riding a wave with the Switch, as the hybrid console looks set to smash Nintendo’s first month sales target. In fact, a recent report claims that the Kyoto firm will double production of the console from 1 April, resulting in 16 million units being produced for the year ending March 2018.