You could argue that Dragalia Lost felt like one of the least-Nintendo Nintendo games to be released by the Japanese giant when it burst onto the scene last year. Despite originally being strongly against working on mobile game development, Nintendo realised that there was potential in releasing games for a device owned by almost everyone after all, and Dragalia Lost was born as a brand new IP only available on smartphones.
As it turns out, it’s gone on to be quite the success. The game turned one-year-old last week, and in that time, it’s gone on to become Nintendo’s third highest-grossing mobile game. According to data gathered by Sensor Tower, it generated $106 million in player spending during its debut year.
To put that into perspective, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is only just ahead of the new IP on player spending despite it having that famous brand behind it and an extra year on the digital storefronts.
There are other interesting things to note here, too. Sensor Tower’s data also suggests that the average revenue per download for Dragalia Lost sits at around $33, whereas Animal Crossing has an average revenue per download of around $3.60. Part of this could be down to the latter having more downloads overall, but it also hints that Dragalia Lost players are more willing to spend money on the game as a whole.
As you can see in the image above, the very newly released Mario Kart Tour has already overtaken Dr. Mario World in player spending.
Do you play any of Nintendo’s smartphone games? Which have you liked or disliked? Let us know in the comments below.
[source sensortower.com]
Comments 29
I just love how Fire Emblem Waifu/Husbando Collection is so overwhelmingly in the lead.
Personally I'm fine with just enjoying screenshots and the fan art the game produces. It's a massively watered down FE grindfest otherwise.
I refuse to spend a penny on any game with a Gacha system. It’s glorified gambling, and in a way it’s worse, since there’s no tangible reward when you win. Fortunately for me, all of these games are hollow and dumbed-down when compared to their console counterparts. So nothing has been lost by skipping them altogether.
@Heavyarms55
That's all you need to make profit it seems.
The only Nintendo mobile game I've even moderately enjoyed is Super Mario Run, and the very honest and straightforward monetization model that one adopted was obviously to their financial detriment, so we'll just be seeing MTX-riddled messes from here on out.
And, good god, FE Heroes is INSANELY successful. I'm just glad Three Houses sold well, so Nintendo hopefully won't get any funny ideas about what the future of the franchise should look like.
@BarefootBowser I've ignore MTX for a while now but now it's gotten out of hand. It's ruined would could have been a lovely port of Mario Kart to android phones (that and horrible controls).
@Ralizah Scantily clad people sell.
I know Mario Kart Tour has only just launched, but I am somewhat hoping that the profits don't increase too much further from what they are. I know that sounds petty, but I cannot approve of micro-transactions and would much rather Nintendo made a proper Mario Kart 9 than focus on a smartphone effort.
Unfortunately now that pandora's box is opened, publishers understand that the monetization model of the 80's arcade can now be delivered anytime, anywhere. I don't see the genie going back in the bottle. Home entertainment will be paid for just like arcade entertainment used to be. "Continue? Insert Coin." simply couldn't exist back then, and now it can. Only it's worse because with loot boxes it now has the monetization of redemption machines rather than simple arcade games.
@thesilverbrick Dragalia Lost is probably the most generous free to play gacha games I've played. They give out so much wyrmite (the summoning resource) you can easily get by without spending a single penny. Not only get by, but likely be able to get most units in the game.
Those aren't bad sales figures considering I haven't heard much about the game ever since it launched. Pretty impressive.
Too bad they lost $106 million.
@Cynas agreed. I've not spent a penny and got quite a decent collection of 5 star characters and dragons. And the gameplay is quite fun and involved. I play it more than Heroes now.
Good job. I would like to see a console version. This game looks really good.
When is it coming to Switch? (Isn't that what we are supposed to ask about every game not on the Switch?)
@NEStalgia I think there will be multiple approaches in the future, of which MTX will be one. Everyone forgets the other trend that is creeping into gaming, Software as a Service (better known as "Anything we can lease you as a service". Both can be bad if abused, but both offer the ability to let someone access something they wouldn't otherwise have.
I think Nintendo is struggling with both right now. I appreciate that they do differentiate that their offerings are "Free 2 Start", as it doesn't imply that you can necessarily complete the game without spending. However, they are still throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to find out how to proceed. Gotcha boxes are being banned, no one wants to purchase outright on mobile, so subscriptions unfortunately seems to be a logical avenue to try (although they really misunderstood the market).
In the end, there is no "Free" in our modern society for the most part. You always pay in something other than currency: be that privacy, advertising, or time. For a kid with lots of time, some strong protections (to a certain age) on privacy, and little money; this is a way to play something they wouldn't otherwise have.
On the scale of good to bad, Nintendo has a lot of misdeeds to do before they rank with EA, Activision and some of the worse mobile game makers out there.
Fire Emblem Heroes is a very good mobile game. Love it.
It's very good to see new artwork for old characters and the game is pretty generous.
@Cynas agreed. At the other end of the spectrum Animal crossing is so cynical with its IAPs it is nauseating.
The gap between Fire Emblem Heroes and everything else is staggering.
I never play fire emblem heros just saying..
This is a great game. To be fair, it is currently the only mobile game I am playing. It is generous with free content and although probably not as wide-ranging as FE Mobile, the fact that it is a new IP shows that Nintendo is putting a lot into this mobile world (despite the Microtransaction Kart debacle)
I very much enjoy Dragalia Lost, they have been very generous with their content. It might be because I just sit on all my in-game currency until big summoning events, but I've pretty much gotten everything I've wanted in the game without ever spending a penny.
I love draglia lost and I've been playing since day 1. If you love great character artwork, the game has it in spades. The gameplay is pretty fun and if like grinding and leveling up...it's heaven.
It's such a shame that consumers rejected the straightforward, honest pricing model of Mario Run and accepted the horrid gacha mechanics from the likes of Fire Emblem Warriors. It's this very reason that led to hard cashgrabs like Pokémon Masters and Mario Kart Tour--people allowed this to happen.
@Darknyht It's not so much about "nothing is free" so much as it's that the actual hidden cost is the non-currency cost, plus a total currency cost or value proposition significantly of less value than it used to be. Just spread in small payments so nobody notices.
Subscriptions, honestly, if it's not "single publisher subs" which we seem to be heading into, make the most sense, because it's more a direct replacment, but with better value, than rentals from Blockbuster and such back in the day - that's one avenue that represents improvement in value. As long as you consider it a replacement for rentals (which it is) rather than an alternative to ownership (which it isn't.)
I have some faith though since Phil Spencer of MS/XBox has said that Game Pass members tend to show an increase in games purchased despite it being counterintuative. So it seems maybe consumers are adopting subs as rental services, and the companies are understanding that lesson, meaning it may not replace traditional purchases but be used as a means to increase them. That's a bigger win-win than mtx.
Love the IP and its comfy-cozy art style, hate the F2P restrictions and gratuitous grinding, oh and lack of analog controls.
Hopefully Nintendo will commission a full-scale Dragalia Lost JRPG for Switch!
Definitely the one mobile game I've ever played, and the only one I've ever come somewhat close to giving some money, even though I'm quite against f2p games in general. The amount of content they include is staggering and I often run out of time when events are on before completing everything.
Anyone interested, the one year anniversary event is taking place now and they are being really generous with free stuff right now.
I do not do games with micro-transactions so mobile gaming is mostly a no from me. I lived playing Gorogoa on my mobile that I bought for around £1. What a beautiful game.
Deleted this game about a week ago... mobile games are so..... well i would prefer my switch. And thanks to switch.... im downgrading my phone.
I liked this game. I just wish it was on console. I lose interest in mobile games quickly. Maybe it's the whole battery life and not having a gaming controller aspect to it.
Does anyone else feel like this game has a good chance of being represented in Smash Bros, possibly even by a playable fighter?
I don't recall coming across so much as a spirit from Dragalia Lost. I would think that they would have had a spirit event by now if they were going to do it, since they've had events for Nintendo LABO and Daemon X Machina.
It just seems weird and conspicuous that a successful Nintendo-published game has gone completely unmentioned in a game that features some form of content from just about every single Nintendo game ever.
What's even weirder to me, though, is I never really hear anyone talking about this. Not on YouTube, Reddit, SmashBoards. It's like the fan bases for the two games have no overlap.
@NEStalgia SaaS makes since in a corporate environment. I manage about 300+ users across two states. It is more efficient for my organization to use Office 365 licensing to ensure compliance (and keep everyone on the same version), than it is for me to spend time and resources to manage that. So I am not against it fully, but it is being applied where it shouldn't.
What Phil Spencer is saying is that people are subscribing to the service (keep in mind, they offered a cheap conversion for up to three years), but are not finding all the games they want so they are purchasing additional games not on the service which boosts overall sales. There are two things that will eventually end up happening, and I will use Netflix as the example.
First, if Netflix didn't constantly surprise people with new content then eventually they unsubscribe and have nothing to show for it. This was why Netflix constantly was pulling content and adding content, so there was always something "new" on their service monthly. It is a psychological method of keeping subscriptions, and is also why Disney used to vault movies. Game Passes have to do the same thing, so there will eventually be no guarantee that the game you love won't be "vaulted" to surprise you with later.
Second, once Netflix became huge it was only a matter of time before content providers thought they could remove the middleman and make more money. We are currently seeing the market fragment into little kingdoms that cost more and provide less. Eventually, the same will happen to gaming. Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, and the rest will pull their content from each other and offer their own passes. We already see EA going down that road. So instead of being a value, consumers will have to pick "winners" or endlessly subscribe, unsubscribe from services. How long do think it will be before subscriptions require a contract agreement that includes length of time?
So we have subscribe and hope for the best (and have little to show for it at the end) and MTX, which ends up causing a segment of the population to underwrite games for everyone. Of the two, I think MTX is capable of being fixed. All it takes is a max cap on what you can spend in the game, and then you are allowing players to judge the value of the product. SaaS on the other hand puts all the bargaining power in the hands of the publisher and you are left to accept or decline.
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