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Nintendo has confirmed that its next two smartphone titles will be free-to-play.
Smartphone outings for Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem were confirmed last month. Now Wall Street Journal reports that both DeNA chief executive Isao Moriyasu and a Nintendo spokesperson have confirmed that both will be free to download.
Nintendo’s first smartphone app, Miitomo, was free-to-play and supported by premium in-all purchases.
Its messaging regarding future smartphone pricing structures has been a bit mixed. In October Nintendo boss Tatsumi Kimishima said future apps will be premium instead of F2P. However, a report the next month suggested this might not be the case.
A F2P model for these games will certainly ensure a larger download rate. However, as these games that are more likely to appeal to the more core parts of Nintendo’s traditional community, any move toward IAP could risk generating a level of anger.
