Mario Kart Tour Microtransactions Off To A “Very Good Start”

We’ve seen Nintendo apply very different monetization strategies to its mobile games from time to time. The one that was quite unusual and a bit weird is the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass, that’s a monthly subscription you need to pay to get multiplayer, a class, and other customization content.

All of this led to some concerns in Nintendo as the game was initially a disappointment in terms of downloads. According to the label, revenues are said to pretty solid since the game has been off to a “very good start” compared to other mobile titles from the publisher.

“Continuing on from Super Mario Run, which more than 300 million consumers are enjoying, I think we can expect remarkable results with Mario Kart Tour,” said President Shuntaro Furukawa in a Q&A with investors, as shared by GameSpot. The game released at the end of September.

“Earnings are also off to a good start,” Furukawa added. “By including these mechanics and multiplayer functionality, we want to make it an attractive application that will be enjoyed by consumers in the long-term.”

It looks like there was a bit of commotion when it came to truly understand the content of Mario Kart Tour and Gold Pass, but in the end, results are there for Nintendo to collect. We’ll see how the amount of download, which grows more significant with time, translates into actual revenues in the longer run.