Nintendo preps free-to-play title
Wii U maker tells analysts it will explore new business model with non-Mario, non-Pokemon game by end of fiscal year
Nintendo may be resisting bringing its brands to smartphones and tablets, but it's still interested in the business models that have driven the mobile boom. As spotted by Polygon, analyst David Gibson attended a Nintendo briefing event at E3 today and tweeted about the company's intention to explore free-to-play.
"Nintendo free-to-play game will be released this [fiscal year] but will not be Mario or Pokemon game as already have good relationship in those brands," Gibson said. (Nintendo's fiscal year ends in March of 2014.)
While the platform of that game wasn't specified, Gibson said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata made the remark in a section of the briefing dedicated to the Wii U. Iwata also said that the 3DS' success in Japan is proof that dedicated handheld platforms can thrive despite the competition from smartphones.
Nintendo has already indicated that it would welcome free-to-play business models on the Wii U. One of the earliest games announced for the system was Ubisoft's free-to-play Ghost Recon Online. However, that project never actually launched on the system.