Last week, Nintendo officially released the highly anticipated Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp for iOS. We offered our initial hands-on impressions, noting of a few downsides you should expect. Now, research firm SensorTower says the game has been downloaded some 15 million times in its first week of availability…
The 15 million downloads account for both iOS and Android, and while that number seems impressive on the surface, there are a couple of things worth noting.
As the research firm points out, Animal Crossing has not be as successful as Super Mario Run throughout its first week. Super Mario Run was downloaded 32 million times in its first 6 days of availability, which is more than double Animal Crossing in the same time period.
The story is a bit brighter, however, when compared to Fire Emblem Heroes, Nintendo’s second game for iOS and Android. Fire Emblem Heroes was downloaded some 7 million times during its first six days availability. For further comparison’s sake, Pokémon Go was downloaded 6.8 million times in its first six days.
Ultimately, however, the success of Nintendo’s mobile offerings comes down to revenue. The company was said to have been disappointed with the revenue generated from Super Mario Run, so the jury is still out on Animal Crossing. Currently, the game is ranked 72nd in revenue on the United States App Store.
Animal Crossing takes a slightly different approach to monetization than Super Mario Run – which is a one-time, $9.99 purchase. Animal Crossing, meanwhile, offers in-app purchases that make it quicker to advance through various tasks.
As for what the future holds, reports have indicated that Nintendo may be developing ‘The Legend of Zelda’ game for iOS, but the company itself has yet to comment on those rumors.
What do you think of Nintendo’s mobile offerings so far? Do you think the company is devoting the necessary time and resources to its mobile games? Let us know down in the comments.
