Super Mario Run downloads hit 150 million seven months after it was first released, but its revenue statistics remain disappointing. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Fire Emblem Heroes makes more money than Super Mario Run.

In a Q&A session with shareholders, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that Super Mario Run has now hit 150 million downloads. The game was first released on iOS devices in December, before hitting Android devices in March of this year. Thanks to that Android release, the game was already close to the 150 million mark in April and Nintendo will be pleased that Super Mario Run has finally achieved that milestone.

However, Nintendo will be less happy with the money that Super Mario Run has made. Free to play to a point, players must pay $10 in order to unlock the full experience. Kimishima stated that less than 10% of players have actually forked out the cash to unlock the full game and suggested that "this may be due to the price or the payment methods." Super Mario Run did make $14 million in its first three days of availability but it seems as though the game has made very little money since that figure was revealed.

Nintendo has previously said that it prefers the Super Mario Run business model and there may be time to salvage things. For example, the release of Super Mario Odyssey could encourage more people to get Super Mario Run if the mobile game offers related promotions. The interest in the Nintendo Switch game but an inability to play it (due to Switch stock shortages) could also steer people towards the game.

Though, Kimishima explained that "in the future we will consider not only a single set price, but other methods that incorporate a wider variety of elements to allow as many consumers as possible to play." Meaning that Nintendo could change things up completely for the Animal Crossing mobile game.

During the Q&A session, Kimishima again noted that Fire Emblem Heroes has made much more money than Super Mario Run even though the former has less than 15 million downloads. So potentially, Nintendo could take a gacha business model approach to its future mobile gaming ventures. That would be controversial but it could pay off for Nintendo, and make the company more money than the 'pay to unlock the full title' model.

Super Mario Run is available on iOS and Android.

Source: PocketGamer.biz