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'Super Mario Run' breaks all records for app growth in just four days

Nintendo’s Super Mario Run has become the fastest-growing app ever, after it was downloaded more than 40 million times in just four days after its release. This was enough to beat out previous record-holder, Pokémon Go, which, although licensed, was based on a Nintendo property, suggesting the Japanese firm has a bright future on mobile.

Considering the success Nintendo has had with its first mobile venture, it seems crazy that this is the first first-party release it’s had on a mobile platform. The auto-runner game is free to download on the iOS App Store right now, with a $10 charge to unlock all content. It has yet to see a release on Android, which suggests we could see another big influx of players in the near future.

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Critical reviews of the game have been strong, though user reviews have it at around a 2.5/5 on the app-store currently. Many of the complaints stem from the fact that the game charges a relatively hefty one-off fee to unlock extra content. Analysts believe that this negativity stems from mobile users’ being more used to having to wait to play more, or paying smaller fees incrementally.

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Still, it doesn’t seem too many people had a problem paying, as Nintendo reports (via TechCrunch) that as well as becoming the most-downloaded game shortly after its launch, Super Mario Run is also one of the top-earning games in 100 of the 140 territories in which it’s been launched.

However, giving a little of the game away for free has let it hit the top of the “free” chart on iOS, so Apple’s strategy there was a smart one: Use the free aspect to give a low barrier for entry, but encourage payment for the rest of it.

While this is a strategy that is commonplace among many of the top-earning applications in the world, Apple did at least make it a one-off payment, rather than small ones which will require a constant drip of payments to progress.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
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