In a newly translated Q&A with investors from the end of March, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has highlighted the success of Tetris 99 as a factor for increased Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions and hinted at further exclusives to help drive interest in the service.
Responding to investors' questions, Furukawa elaborated on membership trends and how Tetris 99's take on the battle royale genre has been a strong asset in keeping memberships to Nintendo's online service active. In order to continue expanding the service, he said 'we need to continue offering elements like this'. Here's the full question and his response:
Q: The number of accounts with Nintendo Switch Online memberships has reached 9.8 million, but are there people coming and going? For example, are people joining to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Splatoon 2 and then canceling their memberships, or joining to play Tetris 99? Or, have most of them continued to be members once they have joined? I would like more details about the growth in account numbers.
Furukawa: We recognize that the number of accounts that have subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online is increasing steadily corresponding to the pace that the hardware install base is growing. Naturally, not everyone remains a member, and there are cases where users joined during the holiday season and then canceled after three months. There are also new members who joined after Tetris 99 was released in February as an exclusive game for Nintendo Switch Online members, and others who have remained members because of Tetris 99. To expand Nintendo Switch Online even further, we need to continue offering elements like this, that highlight the distinct value of Nintendo Switch Online.
Elsewhere, Furukawa goes on to reiterate how successful the game has been for driving interest in the subscription service and he also notes how the monthly drop of NES games helps with member retention:
Tetris 99 has helped maintain Nintendo Switch engagement, as well as increase the number of new members joining Nintendo Switch Online. And when we add new titles to Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online, one of the services available to Nintendo Switch Online members, we see consumers returning to play on Nintendo Switch.
It would seem, then, that Tetris' successful entry into the battle royale genre signals more exclusive content coming to Nintendo Switch Online, in addition to the slowly expanding catalogue of NES games currently available. As a game which relies on a strong online hub of players in order to function, Tetris 99 has been a particularly good fit as an online-only offering and it'll be fascinating to see what the company does next to expand the horizons of the late-coming service.
What Nintendo franchises do you think might make suitable NSO-exclusive experiences? Are you happy that Tetris 99 is exclusive to the subscription service or would you prefer to pay a one-off fee to get the game forever? Let us know with a comment.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 48
I'm pretty happy with the online service as it is considering how ridiculously cheap it is but the more stuff they want to give us, the better.
I'd like to see some sort of an Excitebike revival for the service. Guessing VS Excitebike got me in the mood and there hasn't been a new game since the Wiiware days.
What about Super Mario Kart 99? Like SNES mk but with 99 players. Clearly this would be insane to an almost unplayable extent, which is why I'm suggesting it.
Would love to see more surprises like terus 99. Will be honest that i thought they were crazy, but i was glad to be wrong. Still hope they also use some of their ips. As i would love a music rythmm game like a say hatsune miku using splatoon music
@Malcrash
Would be sweet
Tetris 99 was a high point for the service but the retro catalog is a complete joke. That said I think it's very likely that SNES will be released just as the current 12 month memberships are expiring so some time on or slightly after September 18th.
I definitely feel like we need more games like Tetris 99 to justify the service. Either that or some exclusives sales on the Eshop.
Tetris 99 is really the only bright spot of NSO at this point for me personally. The NES games were great at first for a. Nostalgia trip but many just dont hold up very well. We don't play a ton of online games on the switch and the lack of meaningful discounts like you get with ps plus is a bummer too. Hope they announce some more perks at e3
I hope so. I’ve tried, but I really have little to no interest in NES games, and Nintendo know this. I have a family membership that I pay for and I have let my friends and family join me, and none of them play the NES app. Tetris ‘99 though... omg it’s amazing and I still haven’t done any better than second! Give us SNES games and more exclusive stuff like Tetris and I’ll be delighted. I’m happy enough anyway, but if they want to make the service even better that’s fine by me.
The 9.8 figure, does that include the individual systems connected through a family account?
It needs more online exclusive content. Tetris 99 was a great first one, but we need much more.
I'm actually glad they realise this.
Add the NES Remix games.
A SNES online service would improve the value incredibly. I would love to see GameCube games come, even as an NSO exclusive eShop that allows NSO subscribers only to purchase GC games for a subsidised price.
Just give us SNES games and the world will be at peace
Access to Tetris 99 is a pretty compelling reason for me to keep paying for the service. It'll be even better when games from systems other than the NES start releasing for subscribers.
I'd like to see Super Mario Kart Online but not just the standard SNES game, a remastered version. No map taking up half the screen, wide-screen, leaderboards and 8 players onling racing and that HD Mode 7 we saw yesterday.
Mario Kart is Nintendo's biggest IP, so if they want the number of NSO subscribers to improve drastically,a 'free' Super Mario Kart Online could be just the ticket.
Excitebike Online would be good too.
I hope they add more. At the moment its really cheap for a cheap online service which doesn’t really add much from the Wii u days
They are already planning a Mario Kart Tour mobile game, so......probably not that IP.
The Legend of Zelda 99 Swords
I’ve got Sega on the brain, but a ChuChu Rocket! game where you could create and share your own levels would be nice.
There is a lot of "battle royalle 99 players" style games that would be interesting...
Mario Kart 99: just the battle mode of mario kart, with 99 players battle, last man standing style
Bomberman 99: Just bomberman as always, but with 99 players, big arena that reduces 1 line of block per minute or something like that
StarFox 99: Just like starfox 64 battle mode, but with 99 players, last man standing...
Dr Mario 99, Animal Crossing MMO, Star Fox 64 Battle Royale, Mother 3 - Nintendo Switch Online, Mario Party 99, Steel Diver, the Mii games from 3DS, Odama
@thor27 Splatoon Battle Royale? 🤔
@Malcrash I would be happy to have Excitebike: World Rally on Switch. That was a lot of fun on Wii.
Something like they did for the Super Famicom Satellaview network would be nice.
Didn't even answer the question. A vague answer to a vague number. Just give the Concurrent players like on PC.
They haven't even finished all the modes coming to Tetris 99 according to your stats screen.
You could also improve the online by, I don't know... adding basic features everyone else has.
Killer Queen Black would be cool for this sort of thing. I feel like that game disappeared tho, but hey, Shakedown Hawaii is finally out.
Puzzle League 99. Come on, that would be awesome!
@Malcrash Or Excite Truck and ExciteBots! (But not 100% for the service of course).
...........instead of addressing the more glaring issues first and foremost. But okay, Nintendo, keep being 100% anti-consumer and 100% pro-investor.
No we don't need more arcade party games and drip fed nes games to justify the subscription cost.
What we need is good quality servers to connect to. That's what justifies the cost. The performance and quality of your network. If nintendo is going to take shortcuts like they did with smash bros. Peer to peer solution, no amount of freeware will fix it.
Tetris 99 was a fantastic surprise, here’s to many more.
I like hearing this. Tetris 99 is the best part about the online subscription. The NES games are completely forgettable, so more stuff like Tetris 99 would go a long way in making the subscription feel more worth it.
How about a MMO? A new universe to explore that ties in with one or many of Nintendo's existing IPs? Sure that'd be expensive to produce, but I think the online service has to offer at least one experience with a wow factor.
I joined NSO for Tetris 99. I stayed for Splatoon 2.
I would like more games that people are familiar with, like earthbound beginnings, mega man, and other big brand games. I REALLY want SNES games but I highly doubt that we will get it at e3
I wonder how many subscriptions are due to their alliance with Amazon/Twitch Prime. They gave away 3 months (with the possibility of 9 more free months later) to all subs ... how do they compute those free subscriptions into their formula? And why did they give it away if it is successful on its own? That seemed unusual vs normal Nintendo procedures.
Puyo Puyo 99 better be confirmed
I imagine more would join online if there were a Gold Nintendo. Xbox and PS give modern games and discounts, Nintendo needs to do as their competitors do to have a successful online service.
These last two Tetris Maximus Cup tournaments have practically paid for my NSO subscription. I'm definitely down for more Tetris features.
I would love to see Mario Kart Online but with 99 players with every lap the last 2 players who are in 12 and 11 are out
@Tandy255 I’ve been thinking the same thing, love that game. Why have Sega not rereleased it!
please nintendo give us anything, NSO feels like a greedy paywall with no compelling offers. The more they can offer us the better
Well, there's also that match-3 game (Gems of War?) that also requires subscription. The amount of grinding turned me off of it though. Randomly getting like 30 keys or treasure maps lost its luster pretty quickly.
@dystome Ooh, I got silently moderated. 'Bats**t insane' became just 'insane' without any notification. Duly noted.
@Angelic_Lapras_King Aw yeah. Panel de Pon deserves the Tetris 99 treatment!
Anyway, hope to see more of this stuff added to NSO.
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