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In This Edition
- The surprise launch of Fire Emblem Shadows
- Best performing Nintendo mobile games
- Remedy issues profit warning
Hello hello!
And welcome to another edition of The Game Business. Today, we are looking at Nintendo’s recent return to mobile games, with some exclusive data on how the company has performed in this space so far.
On the podcast, we are joined by MobileGamer.biz founder and editor Neil Long to discuss this. Neil is also the former editor of Official Nintendo Magazine and worked at Apple during Nintendo’s initial run of mobile games, so is an ideal guest for this chat.
We also dive into the recent challenges at Build A Rocket Boy, Remedy’s profit warning and Supercell’s concerns about potential EU regulation.
You can listen or watch the podcast above (or via YouTube or your podcasting platform of choice). Alternatively, check out the write-up below. Enjoy!
Nintendo makes surprise return to mobile games after four years… but for how long?
Last month Nintendo launched a brand-new mobile game: Fire Emblem Shadows.
It was a surprise because there hadn’t been a new Nintendo mobile game since Pikmin Bloom in 2021. Fire Emblem Shadows is one of just two Nintendo mobile games released in the 2020s, whereas between 2016 and 2019, Nintendo had launched seven: Miitomo, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Dragalia Lost, Mario Kart Tour and Dr Mario World.
The fates of those games are also worth paying attention, too. Miitomo, Dr Mario World and Dragalia Lost have all been discontinued. Super Mario Run and Mario Kart Tour are maintained, but no longer receive significant updates. Nintendo pivoted Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp into a premium product, and is no-longer adding new content to that, either.
It looked as if Nintendo was scaling back its mobile ambitions to focus on its Switch platform. Nintendo embarked on its smartphone strategy before the Switch was released, which went on to exceed all expectations (including the company’s own).
Does the release of Fire Emblem Shadows suggest a move back to mobile?
It’s worth noting that despite Nintendo’s recent lack of mobile games, it’s actually had some success in the sector, at least relative to a lot of other companies. Nintendo has generated nearly $2.2 billion in revenue across nine mobile games (Sensor Tower data).
The title that has driven most of that is actually Fire Emblem Shadows’ sister game, Fire Emblem Heroes. According to Sensor Tower, Fire Emblem Heroes has generated $1.193 billion in revenue, which means it is one of Nintendo’s Top Ten most successful games of the last ten years.
“Fire Emblem Heroes is one of Nintendo’s Top Ten most successful games of the last ten years”
So much of this revenue is coming from Japan. The US is the biggest market for Nintendo mobile game downloads, representing over 20% of all installs, with Japan at No.2 at 8%. But things are reversed when it comes to revenue, with Japan representing nearly 46% of all money generated by Nintendo’s mobile titles (the US is at No.3 at 34% of revenue).
In that context, it makes strategic sense for Nintendo to focus on brands, such as Fire Emblem, that potentially appeal to its most lucrative Japanese mobile audience. However, according to Sensor Tower, Fire Emblem Shadows has had a relatively slow start, with 800,000 downloads generating $200,000. It’s worth noting that Shadows is a social, multiplayer deduction game, and quite different to its lucrative sister title.
The release of Fire Emblem Shadows may be more of an opportunistic, experimental release, as opposed to a significant shift back towards mobile games. Even so, Nintendo has actively been investing in mobile over the last 12 months, just in different ways. It launched the Nintendo Music app in October 2024 to distribute its own soundtracks, and launched the Nintendo Today app this year, which is a calendar designed to update fans on Nintendo news. It has also released Hey, Mario! in Japan, which is a free app aimed at young children that involves playing around and poking Mario’s face.
And when it comes to existing titles like Super Mario Run, which has 384 million downloads, or Mario Kart Tour, which has 290 million, Nintendo utilises these titles to help promote relevant new releases. For example, a series of challenges and in-game cosmetic items were added to Super Mario Run to promote the launch of Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch 2 in July. And Mario Kart Tour received new costumes and karts to mark the launch of Mario Kart World on Switch 2 in June.
“Japan represents nearly 46% of all revenue generated by Nintendo’s mobile titles”
Nintendo’s approach to mobile has certainly changed. It has been taking a more strategic (and complementary) approach to developing new apps and games, with its core teams focused on the firm’s console business.
On today’s episode of The Game Business Show, we spoke to Neil Long, the founder and editor of MobileGamer.biz, who worked at Apple during Nintendo’s initial mobile releases and is the former editor of Official Nintendo Magazine. He told us that Nintendo has actually seen success in mobile overall, but he believes that the company doesn’t feel the need to be as aggressive in the space as perhaps it did back in 2016.
“If you look at the numbers, they’ve made billions of dollars out of mobile,” Long said. “And for most companies that would be great, but Nintendo is a very different company. It ultimately has its core interest in selling consoles and making games for its own consoles, and not being beholden to platform holders like Apple and Google. [Nintendo doesn’t] have control over those platforms. Now Nintendo has movies and theme parks, they are in a position where they can afford to not worry about mobile too much. If the company wasn’t doing so great, like it wasn’t in 2014, 2015 and 2016, maybe they would show a bit more interest in mobile.”
Just how big are Nintendo’s mobile games?
The Game Business has teamed up with Sensor Tower to dive into just how successful (or not) Nintendo’s mobile titles are. This data includes all Nintendo games that generate revenue. Pokémon titles are not included in this analysis, as those games are owned and operated by The Pokémon Company.
The Biggest Nintendo Mobile Games (by revenue) – Sensor Tower
Fire Emblem Heroes
Released: February 2017
Status: Active
Downloads: 19,000,000
Revenue: $1,193,400,000Mario Kart Tour
Released: September 2019
Status: Active, but no major updates
Downloads: 290,700,000
Revenue: $365,600,000Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Released: October 2017
Status: Shifted to a premium model, no longer updated
Downloads: 75,500,000
Revenue: $349,800,000Dragalia Lost
Released: September 2018
Status: Discontinued
Downloads: 4,300,000
Revenue: $167,100,000Super Mario Run
Released: September 2016
Status: Active
Downloads: 384,400,000
Revenue: $96,600,000Pikmin Bloom
Released: October 2021
Status: Active
Downloads: 7,500,000
Revenue: $84,800,000Dr. Mario World
Released: July 2019
Status: Discontinued
Downloads: 13,400,000
Revenue: $13,800,000Miitomo
Released: March 2016
Status: Discontinued
Downloads: 20,800,000
Revenue: $3,700,000Fire Emblem Shadows
Released: September 2025
Status: Active
Downloads: 800,000
Revenue: $200,000
Thanks to Sensor Tower for the data.
Ghost of Yotei debuts at No.2 across Europe
PS5 exclusive Ghost of Yotei just missed out on No.1 in the GSD European charts (digital + physical), with opening week sales in-line with its predecessor: 2020’s PS4 hit Ghost of Tsushima.
Ghost of Tsushima was a surprise success for Sony back in 2020, and launched during the COVID-19 lockdown year, which drove record numbers for video game sales.
Ghost of Yotei is the biggest first-party PlayStation launch since Spider-Man 2 in October 2023.
The PS5 exclusive narrowly missed out on No.1, with EA Sports FC 26 holding on for a third week at the top. The football game’s standard edition had only launched the week before, and sales are down 62% week-on-week.
New at No.3 is the Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 double pack for Nintendo Switch. It’s a relatively soft launch for a Mario game, selling around a quarter of what the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection managed back in 2020 (TGB estimates). However, this is purely based on physical sales (Nintendo doesn’t share digital data with any charts firm), and it’s worth noting that both games were available to buy separately from the Nintendo eShop. What’s more, the first Galaxy game had already featured in that aforementioned 3D All-Stars Collection, whereas Galaxy 2 did not. So it may be that a large number of Switch players chose to go digital with this release instead (and specifically, for Galaxy 2).
The Top Ten this week is full of games included in the Steam Autumn Sale. Doom Eternal (No.5) was reduced to £3.49, Far Cry Primal (No.6) had dropped to £2.49 and South Park: The Fractured But Whole was also on sale for £2.49.
As a result, new games such as Silent Hill F and Sonic Racing CrossWorlds have fallen out of the Top 20 in terms of units. However, in terms of revenue they can still be found at No.7 for Silent Hill F and No.11 for Sonic Racing CrossWorlds.
European Top Ten Unit Sales (week ending October 5)
1. EA Sports FC 26 (-62%)
2. Ghost of Yotei (New)
3. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (New)*
4. Digimon Story: Time Stranger (New)
5. Doom Eternal (+8610%)
6. Far Cry Primal (+3060%)
7. Hogwarts Legacy (+177%)
8. Red Dead Redemption 2 (+342%)
9. South Park: The Fractured But Whole (+13256%)
10. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (New)
European Top Ten Revenue (week ending October 5)
1. EA Sports FC 26 (-63%)
2. Ghost of Yotei (New)
3. Digimon Story: Time Stranger (New)
4. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (New)*
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (New)
6. Borderlands 4 (-42%)
7. Silent Hill F (-83%)
8. Mario Kart World (+6%)
9. NBA 2K26 (-12%)
10. Assassin’s Creed Shadows (+23%)
*Digital data unavailable
For more on the GSD data and how to acquire the information yourself. Head to gamesalesdata.com
Meanwhile…
2K has named former Apex Legends boss Ben Brinkman as the studio head for 31st Union. The developer is working on Project ETHOS, which is a roguelike shooter that received mixed feedback last year during a community playtest. This saw the departure of 31st Union founder Michael Condrey. Brinkman’s CV includes leadership roles on Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Remedy issued a profit warning after FBC Firebreak struggled to impress. The premium live service game released in June and found a strong audience, but mostly via PlayStation and Xbox’s subscription services. The company warned it’ll have a non-cash impairment of €14.9 million ($17.4 million), which represents the majority of Firebreak’s development, publishing and distribution costs. The developer now says it doesn’t expect to deliver profit growth this year.
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen has hit out at EU proposals that he says could cause serious harm to the European game industry. Taking to LinkedIn, he took aim at the EU’s Digital Fairness Act and the guidelines put forward by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which proposed more strictly restricting and controlling the buying and using of in-game currencies.
Next year’s Summer Game Fest announcement event will take place on June 5 at a new venue: the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. We’ll be there.
Former Gamer Network Editorial Director and all-round top fella Jon Hicks has taken the vacant Editorial Director seat at GamesIndustry.biz.
The follow-up to this year’s smash hit Minecraft movie will premiere on July 23, 2027. The first movie delivered $958 million in revenue and caused a 30% spike in monthly users to Minecraft back in April.
That’s it from us today. Join us next week for more news, analysis and opinion. And for those coming to see us at London Comic-Con next Friday, I look forward to saying hello in person!
