Investor meeting: Kimishima on mobile business, Animal Crossing/Fire Emblem apps (Apr. 2016)

Update

We added a short blurb about My Nintendo: you will find it below, after the break.

During the usual meeting with investors, which always follows the presentation of the latest financial results, Nintendo talked about its mobile business, and gave more details about the Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem apps to be released this Fall.

First, Tatsumi Kimishima reminded investors about the three goals of Nintendo’s mobile strategy:

• use smart devices to increase amount of people exposed to Nintendo IP
• be profitable
• create a synergy with the dedicated game system business, in order to “realise the full potential of [its] entire business”

As mentioned several times before, Nintendo didn’t place any restrictions on which characters and IPs would be used for smart device games. But at the same time, Nintendo is aware that the value of Nintendo characters and IP comes from “treasured experiences” of playing on a Nintendo game system, and the “hand-crafted” feel of its games.

Which is why Nintendo is not simply going to release games in their current form on smart devices. Nintendo is carefully selecting IPs, in order to release games that are suitable to the mobile market. The company’s goal is to provide high-quality experienced optimised for smart devices, not just New Super Mario Bros. 2 with IAP for example.

After that, Tatsumi Kimishima talked a bit about Miitomo, which was launched last month in 16 countries and 8 languages (with Japan getting it first on March 17th, and the other countries following on March 31st). Apparently, it’s unprecedented for a company to release a mobile app in so many countries and in so many languages when it’s their very first one.

As a result, Miitomo now has over 10 million unique users worldwide.

Users have generated over 300 million conversations, and over 20 million Miifotos.

Naturally, Nintendo is planning to expand Miitomo with regular updates, but also launch in more countries. Right now, the company is considering launching Miitomo in Asia and South America. With those updates and the expansion to more countries, Nintendo wants Miitomo to play an even bigger role worldwide as the forerunner of the company’s new mobile business.

Head after the break for the rest of this post!

Then, Tatsumi Kimishima talked about the two new games for mobile devices announced this week, based on Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing.

He talked about the former, which is a strategy/RPG series know by the following catchphrase: “tough-to-beat simulation”. Fifteen games have been released in the series, from Fire Emblem: Ankokuryu to Hikari no Ken (1990, NES), to Fire Emblem Fates (2015, Nintendo 3DS), but not counting the remakes and spin-offs.

The series has many passionate fans, including many in their 20’s and 30’s. The latest entries have been extremely successful even outside Japan, especially Fire Emblem Fates in North America. For Nintendo, Fire Emblem has become a major series, “both in name and in substance”. It’s most definitely one of the reasons Nintendo picked it up for its first batch of mobile games.

As mentioned earlier this week, the Fire Emblem game on smart devices will be more accessible than those found on dedicated game devices.

The reason for this is because for many players, the mobile game will be their first time with the Fire Emblem experience. Nintendo still plans to provide a “fully engaging experience as a role-playing simulation game”. Whether they succeed or not remains to be seen, but it’s definitely way too early to make any kind of judgement (especially since we haven’t seen anything of the game yet).

As for Animal Crossing, it’s one of Nintendo’s most popular franchises of all times (and one of Nintendo’s famous “evergreen” series). For example, the last two entries on Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS have both sold over 10 million units each worldwide. Thanks to its “unique and lovable characters, relaxed lifestyle, and endless playability”, the series is pretty popular among a wide variety of players, and especially women and kids.

The Animal Crossing game for mobile devices will offer a connection with the world of Animal Crossing on dedicated game systems. We don’t quite know what that connection will be, but Tatsumi Kimishima promises that it will be even more fun for players who play “in both ways”, and will offer a new style of play on smart devices.

The goal of that game is to provide “strong value suitable to smart devices while also generating synergy with [Nintendo’s] dedicated video game system business” (which is one of Nintendo’s goals for its mobile business).

Both the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing games will be launched this Fall. Compared to Miitomo, they’re “pure game apps”, with more prominent game elements. Players will be able to play as they like, and content will connect to their dedicated game business.

Finally, Tatsumi Kimishima talked a bit more about Miitomo. The goal of that app was to bring more consumers in contact with Nintendo. Even though there are in-game purchases, with clothing items and game tickets for Miitomo Drop, the app was designed so that users can enjoy it even without spending a single cent.

Right now, over 75% of all Miitomo users are living outside Japan. Nintendo expects this percentage to rise even higher as Miitomo is launched in even more regions (South America, Asia). For Tatsumi Kimishima, Miitomo’s success overseas shows that the company has made real progress in advancing their mobile business on a global scale, not just in Japan.

Nintendo’s plans to release 5 games on smart devices before April 2017 remains unchanged.

During the meeting, Tatsumi Kimishima also briefly talked about My Nintendo, and explained that the number of My Nintendo has been increasing steadily since the global launch of Miitomo. He expects that the launch of the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing expand membership even more.

Source: Nintendo