 "Image via Tech in Asia")
More than seven months after Nintendo and DeNA announced a partnership that fans around the world hoped would bring Mario and company to the small screen, Nintendo this morning announced its first smartphone game, Miitomo. But not only is the game devoid of the mustachioed plumber synonymous with Nintendo, but it’s being delayed until March 2016. The market reaction has not been kind.
According to Serkan Toto, a Japanese gaming industry consultant, the word “delay” apparently began circulating among analysts, at which point the stock prices for both companies began a sharp nosedive.
“The word ‘delay’ is like a red, flaming flag for investors,” Serkan tells Tech in Asia. “It’s even worse than the fact that Miitomo looks so underwhelming.”
He notes that Nintendo stock was up almost 2% before the announcement. At present, it is down nearly 10% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. DeNA has taken an even harder hit, down more than 16% at the time of writing.
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“But it’s not a ‘game,’ and at this point it’s not even confirmed it’s one of the five games Nintendo is planning to roll out through March 2017,” he adds.
Miitomo will be free-to-play and offer in-app purchases.
Despite the stock dive, it’s not all doom and gloom for Nintendo – the firm revealed its first operating profit in five years yesterday.
