Nintendo continues to embrace the mobile market with the announcement of a new Dr. Mario franchise installment set to release on iOS and Android by "early summer" 2019.
Dr. Mario
Hot on the heels of an announced delay of Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo on Thursday revealed a new title for iOS and Android.
Action puzzle game Dr. Mario World will be released this summer in 60 countries as a free-to-play title with optional in-app purchases. The Tetris-style game will be co-developed by LINE, a mobile development company based in Tokyo.
Nintendo has embraced the "freemium" app model after Super Mario Run, a free-to-try app, saw massive downloads but fairly low conversion rates. Since then, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp have taken a free-to-play approach with optional in-app purchases.
The Japanese gaming company has been slow to transition to mobile, favoring its own portable devices in lieu of releasing smartphone and tablet versions that would cannibalize sales. That changed in 2017, when announced plans to build off the success of Super Mario Run by releasing two to three new iPhone games a year.
Currently, the iOS App Store hosts four Nintendo games in Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Dragalia Lost. The company's first app, social networking title Miitomo, shut down in 2018.