It wasn’t long ago when Nintendo confirmed that it’s entering the realm of smartphone gaming, it has joined forces with DeNA Co. to make the first few games for smartphones. It has five planned right now which will come out between next year and 2017, today DeNA has confirmed that few of the games that will be released initially will be available for free.
If you’ve ever played a game that’s free to download then you’re probably well aware that free doesn’t necessarily mean “free” when it comes to mobile gaming, there are always microtransactions or in-app purchases for either unlocking levels or getting content that’s locked behind a paywall. You end up paying anyway.
DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu confirms that “Games currently in the pipeline are all free to play,” without really saying how they will be monetizing these smartphone titles. For all we know in-app purchases might be included in the games, another way Nintendo and DeNA can make money off of these games is by serving advertisements if they don’t opt for in-app purchases. That remains to be seen though.
Last month Nintendo announced its first smartphone game called Miitomo, players will be able to create their own characters in the game and even talk to each other, but it also revealed during that announcement that the launch of this game has been delayed from the end of this year to March 2016.
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