Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo’s latest game on mobile devices, had the most successful first day of any other Nintendo mobile title by a large margin, earning more than 20 million downloads in the 24 hours following its launch. Other Nintendo mobile titles include Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp.
Although the legendary video game company’s mobile games have undoubtedly seen much success, some of Nintendo’s iOS and Android titles have been met with controversy. While Super Mario Run set download records at launch, Nintendo soon changed the game’s $10 price point to a more traditional mobile microtransaction model - a decision that’s affected the rest of its games since. Nintendo included microtransactions in Dr. Mario World, and the Belgian government even banned Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes over the games’ microtransactions. Mario Kart Tour opted for a similar, microtransaction-laden format, which has apparently helped it earn that $1 million.
Mobile market analyst Sensor Tower released a report today that estimated Mario Kart Tour’s success. Mario Kart Tour’s 20 million first-day downloads more than triple Super Mario Run’s 7 million (although Super Mario Run first launched only on iOS, as opposed to Mario Kart Tour’s iOS and Android release). In fact, Mario Kart Tour is so much more successful than other Nintendo mobile titles that it already has almost 31 times as many installs as Dr. Mario World to-date, according to Sensor Tower. While not a Nintendo-published title, many would draw comparisons between Mario Kart Tour and Pokémon GO, given Pokémon’s heavy association with Nintendo. While Pokémon GO may have grown to be more successful than Candy Crush and Clash Royale, its first-day sales were on-par with Super Mario Run at around 7.5 million, according to an earlier Sensor Tower report.
In addition to its 20 million downloads, Sensor Tower also reported that Mario Kart Tour earned more than $1 million in its first day. While Mario Kart Tour may have broken Nintendo download records, it lagged behind in revenue, making only about a fourth of what Fire Emblem Heroes and Super Mario Run earned on their launch days. Sensor Tower notes this could be partially due to the fact that those who purchased the $4.99 Gold Pass - perhaps one of the more predatory Mario Kart Tour microtransactions - won’t be charged until 13 days from now.
No Nintendo mobile game has been able to quite capture the magic of catching rare Pokémon in Pokémon GO, which recently surpassed 1 billion lifetime downloads, but Mario Kart Tour’s first-day numbers could mean it’s on track for at least some of that success. It remains to be seen whether Mario Kart Tour’s in-app purchases and simplistic gameplay deter players, but those things didn’t stop people from loving Pokémon GO.
Next: Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Everything We Learned From Nintendo Direct
Source: Sensor Tower
