Super Mario Run: new Easy mode, 78 million downloads, $53 million revenue

Nintendo said Tuesday that Super Mario Run for iPhone has managed to rack up 78 million downloads and generate about $53 million in revenue since its December debut on App Store, a performance analysts said was better than expected, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The game’s most recent update brought out a new Easy gameplay mode which lets players explore the level at their own pace, without the timer.

The update also adds support for the Korean language and compatibility with new events while bringing changes to the game’s Toad Rally mode, which now makes Toads easier to collect by reducing penalties for poor performance.

Aside from removing the time limit, Easy mode gets you unlimited bubbles and the removes the time limit.

“You will lose fewer Toads when losing in Toad Rally, and it will be easier to gather Toads,” said Nintendo.

“After receiving the My Nintendo reward Toad, he cannot be received again if save data is deleted. In order to resolve this issue, there is no longer a limit on the number of times Toad can be downloaded.”

More than five percent of players who have bought a $9.99 upgrade to unlock the game’s full content helped bring in more than six billion yen, or approximately $53 million, in revenue so far. That’s quite an accomplishment for a game that requires a $9.99 In-App Purchase to unlock full content, even more so given the fact that other games which charge only a dollar or two for in-game items usually convert fewer than five percent of downloaders into paying customers.

An Android edition of the game is due in March.

Nintendo is poised to release more smartphone games, including Animal Crossing which was originally planned by March but now is scheduled to come in April or later.

Even though the game’s performance benefited from weak yen and better-than-expected mobile sales that boosted Nintendo’s profit, company CEO wasn’t satisfied because he expected a double-digit paying rate. Nintendo’s December quarter revenues fell 21 percent annually as its video games business fell below expectations.

The company’s console business was especially underperforming due to the fact that Nintendo is phasing out the Wii U console. Nintendo unveiled its new game console, Switch, earlier in January and said it would begin selling it starting in March.

Super Mario Run is free to download from App Store.

Source: The Wall Street Journal