Animalcrossing

Nintendo's delve into the world of mobile gaming came as quite a shock, especially considering the Japanese giant had barely even scratched the surface of the new and rapidly emerging practice of paid DLC at the time. The company has often been thought to be slightly behind the times when compared to its main competitors in several areas, but this was one such case where fans were actually happy about it.

The concerns surrounding Nintendo's smartphone adventures were mostly centred around the typical free-to-play or free-to-start models, where players can pick up the game for free but need to shell out on lots of smaller transactions to properly progress through the game. Nonetheless, games like Fire Emblem Heroes and Dragalia Lost have done exceptionally well.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, however, Nintendo seems to have adopted a more consumer-friendly approach to the practice. Players have been known to spend hundreds, if not thousands, trying to earn elusive in-game rewards or to speed up their play time, but Nintendo has reportedly asked its mobile development partners to adjust games and limit possible microtransactions.

The move comes as a way to prevent its loyal fanbase from spending too much unnecessarily, benefiting the player, but also ensuring that the Nintendo brand keeps its positive reputation. According to The Wall Street Journal, one CyberAgent official (parent company of Dragalia Lost developer, Cygames) has said that "Nintendo is not interested in making a large amount of revenue from a single smartphone game. If we managed the game alone, we would have made a lot more".

It's a refreshing approach in today's climate, where paid DLC and countless microtransactions have simply become the norm for many developers. Here's hoping that more companies follow suit in the years to come.

[source wsj.com]