'Super Mario Run' free gift, latest update: Nintendo celebrates success with free gifts, but title experiences sudden drop in rankings
It has already been expected that "Super Mario Run" will come out as a hit mobile game, just like what Nintendo achieved with its "Pokémon GO." Indeed, the mobile game was downloaded by millions of players, reaching the 50 million goal.
To celebrate the success of "Super Mario Run," Nintendo announced that all players will be given a gift. The gift includes 10 Rally Tickets for the Toad Rally Mode. Nintendo wrote, "Celebrating 50 Million Downloads! To thank all our downloaders, we are giving everyone 10 Rally Tickets. We hope everyone will enjoy the fun of the Toad Rally!"
It is already inevitable that "Super Mario Run" will reach its 50 million download goal since it already achieved 40 million during the first four days of release. The game can be downloaded for free but has only limited levels. To unlock all levels, a $10 investment is necessary.
On the other hand, the success of "Super Mario Run" is still not on par with what the other titles have accomplished. As seen from the App Annie research data, the title does not appear on Apple's list of highest-grossing apps from Dec. 24 to 25 in any country. However, it is one of the top free downloadable games in 68 countries, which slid down from 138 countries on Dec. 17.
The drop in ranking indicates that "Super Mario Run" may be on the verge of falling down if Nintendo continues to require a $10 payment to play all levels. In an article by Bloomberg, "Super Mario Run" is different from other free mobile games that encourage players to purchase in-game items, instead of unlocking levels.
Another seen reason is the $10 price tag, which is deemed too expensive by mobile gamers. From the millions who downloaded the game, only 1 to 2 percent of them are said to have succumbed to the full version. It was suggested to drop the price to at least $2 to achieve a 10 percent purchase possibility.