Nintendo's shares fell after Super Mario Run launched - here's why

Mario leapt onto iOS this week with a big ol’ “wahoo!” but investors so far are still skeptical. While lots of long-time Nintendo fans are excited by the arrival of Super Mario Run, with the game topping the Free Games charts in a number of locations, Nintendo’s shares in the Japanese stock market still fell significantly on December 15 -- by a whopping 4%.

This is quite a shock when analysts were previously predicting that the game would see nearly $60 million in earnings in its first month. However, there are a few reasons that could explain why investors are pulling back.

Super Mario Run is expensive
The game comes with a hefty $10 price tag, which given Super Mario Run’s playtime is a bit hard to swallow for the everyday consumer. When you consider that other games at a similar price point are generally full remakes of JRPGs or games like Grand Theft Auto, you can see there’s an imbalance there. This could be a major obstacle for Nintendo if they want to sell millions of copies and break records.

The game requires a constant internet connection
Super Mario Run doesn’t give you the option to play the game offline, which is a bit surprising for a single-player mobile platformer in this day and age. Investors might be concerned that the game could perform poorly when consumers are turned off by the internet requirement. Not being able to play Super Mario Run while you’re traveling could be a sizeable dealbreaker.

There’s no Android version
No clear Android release date means that Nintendo is missing out on a huge segment of their consumer base. While Miitomo launched on Android on day one, Super Mario Run won’t be out on the platform until some nebulous date in 2017, which could have a serious impact on sales in the early months of the game’s release.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Like we mentioned, Super Mario Run takes first place in the Free Apps section of the App Store, and also is currently the highest grossing game within just one day of its launch. We’ll have to wait a bit more to see how Nintendo responds.

What do you like the most about Super Mario Run? Share in the comments below!