Super Mario Run was fated to be a hit. Nintendo and Apple are two of the biggest companies in the world, and Mario is one of the most beloved characters in pop culture. But the sheer scale of Mario’s launch is a bit staggering as he seems poised to utterly destroy every record iTunes has.
Super Mario Run has been downloaded 2.85 million times in just its first 24 hours, according to independently collected data, and that easily beats the record for the previous record-holder, a little game called Pokemon Go. To be fair, Pokemon Go only gradually rolled out across the world, while Super Mario Run hit 150 countries at once. Still, it says something that Nintendo beat its own record, and by such a margin.
The question now becomes whether Nintendo can convert all those downloads to sales. The game is free to try on the iTunes store, but the whole shebang costs $10. It’s $10 that we found decidedly worth every penny, but the mobile gaming industry is one built on dollar games, “free-to-play” and other business models that, while heavily disliked, are something mobile gamers are used to. We’ll see if Nintendo can shift spending habits as Super Mario Run spreads.
(via The Verge)