Nintendo’s first mobile app has been made available in Japan, and is scheduled to be launched in the US and elsewhere in the coming week. Being a social game, you mainly create a “Mii” avatar of yourself and interact with other Miis created by your friends. The formula has proven to be a success apparently, seeing as it is already #1 on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store, reaching 1 million users in just 3 days.
Nintendo hasn’t yet made clear how much money they’re making, but it’s certainly going to be a lot. As is common with most free-to-play games, Miitomo has a ton of ways you can spend your real-world cash for in-game rewards. Game industry analyst Serkan Toto says he was surprised by Miitomo’s micro-transactions, which include a $78 purchase. “Using this app is a first indication, there will be no Nintendo softness as far as mobile monetization is concerned,” Toto said in an email to Wired.
Investors, who initially pulled stock from Nintendo by 9 percent when Miitomo was announced last year, have been won over. Nintendo stock jumped up 8 percent once the app launched. Toto believes that Nintendo is going “whale-hunting” with the app, i.e., fishing for users who would be willing spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on the app.
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