Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, was recently profiled in TIME magazine. The 55-year-old addressed a lot of concerns regarding the future of the company, a future he sees as positive and bright and one that could last well into the next century.
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Of primary concern is the recent Nintendo and DeNA merger which will bring beloved Nintendo characters like Mario and Zelda to the mobile marketplace. It's a position Iwata once said was anathema to the Nintendo business model, stating "if we think 20 years down the line, we may look back at the decision not to supply Nintendo games to smartphones and think that is the reason why the company is still here."
That was in 2013 during the second consecutive yearly loss to the once profitable company. Times, apparently, have changed. And while we should allow people to change their mind - a lot has happened in the industry the past two years - it must be taken with a grain of salt. Iwata is a businessman first and foremost, and his allegiance is to making the company profitable.
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However, Iwata knows how to play his cards right in order to not alienate the larger Nintendo fanbase when it begins adding mobile games to its roster. The biggest concern is, of course, the stigma of the free-to-play revenue strategy. "I do not like to use the term 'Free-to-play.' I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so-called 'Free-to-play' should be referred to more accurately as 'Free-to-start.'"
That being said, however, it is a standard of the industry these days. "I have no intention to deny the Free-to-start model. In fact, depending on how we approach this model, we may be able to overcome these problems." Adding, "I do not believe it is an either-or situation between Free-to-start and packaged game retail business models. There are games which are more suited for the Free-to-start model. We can flexibly choose between both revenue systems depending on the software content."
You should also expect a mix of premium and F2P titles when the new games start hitting later this year. "It is a one-sided claim to suggest that a complete transition to a Free-to-start model should be made because the existing retail model is outdated." Despite what could be called an aggressive PR approach, the big Nintendo games can still sell relatively well. Read the full interview HERE.
Nintendo has already dipped its toes into the free to play waters with games like Pokemon Shuffle, which has been downloaded an excessive number of times. There are plenty of successful and non-annoying F2P titles for smartphones out there - Crossy Road comes to mind as a stellar example of 'if you build it, they will pay' type game that Nintendo could model their upcoming titles after (in terms of microtransaction model, that is).
If people believe in the game and like it and relate to it, they'll pay for it. What company has been better at making games that fit all those criteria? Mr. Iwata, you're telling us words we want to hear. We look forward to seeing what you'll turn those words into.
