Nintendo claims it’s still developing mobile games

Stay Informed

Get Industry News In Your Inbox…

Sign Up Today

Japanese games giant Nintendo has said it aims to continue developing mobile games to reach a broader audience, despite not releasing a title for over five years.

That’s according to the company’s president Shuntaro Furukawa, speaking during a recent shareholder Q&A following its latest financial report.

“Although we cannot provide details on future application releases, we are continuing to develop new game applications,” he said when asked about the company’s current position on smart devices. 

He added: “It is true in recent years that many people’s first game platform has changed from being a Nintendo dedicated video game system to a smart device. Given this environment, we have considered various ways to utilise smart devices, and we will continue to deliberate on this topic.” 

“Going forward, even as we transition to Nintendo Switch 2, it remains important to increase touchpoints beyond video games,” said Furukawa. “We believe that smart devices will take on a very important role in this endeavour, and we will continue to conduct research and implement initiatives.”

In a Corporate Management Policy Briefing held last year, Nintendo said that it is leveraging mobile content to drive engagement and interest in its core business. 

Milestones and upcoming titles

Nintendo said its mobile apps have reached over 900 million cumulative downloads to date, expanding access to its IP and characters globally. 

The company currently operates Fire Emblem Heroes, Mario Kart Tour, and Super Mario Run and also collaborates with Niantic on Pikmin Bloom. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp ended its service in November 2024, but was relaunched as a paid app, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete, in December.

The company’s last mobile game release was Mario Kart Tour, launched more than five years ago on September 25th, 2019. However, it did recently release the new Nintendo Music app.

Earlier this month, Fire Emblem Heroes celebrated its eighth anniversary with nearly $1.3 billion in lifetime player spending, making it Nintendo’s most profitable mobile game. It is also the only Nintendo mobile game to surpass $1 billion in gross player spending.