Nintendo's Miyamoto To Game Devs: Don't Rely On Free-To-Play

Jason Winter
By Jason Winter, News Editor Posted:
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Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has some good, albeit years-late, advice to game developers: stop relying on free-to-play.

Miyamoto spoke yesterday at a conference in Japan, where he criticized the industry's over-reliance on free-to-play and microtransactions, while calling for more fixed-price games, Bloomberg reports. He lauded the gaming industry's large audience, while saying that "if we can deliver games at reasonable prices to as many people as possible, we will see big profits."

Nintendo itself has been slow to fully embrace free-to-play, looking to redefine the term to suit its own needs but have been pretty consistent about not wanting to exploit players. Miyamoto seemed to echo Satoru Iwata's statements in his call for fair monetization, even if some of Nintendo's mobile titles haven't lived up to that billing.

Miyamoto even went so far as to say that his company's fixed-cost mobile games haven't been doing so hot, "But we’re going to continue pushing it forward until it becomes entrenched."

If Miyamoto and Nintendo are willing to eschew some easy profits so they can feel good about themselves in the morning, then that's great for them. I just have a hard time believing that their approach, or Miyamoto's words, will have much of an influence on the free-to-play market as a whole. That (whaling) ship has already sailed.

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In this article: Nintendo.

About the Author

Jason Winter
Jason Winter, News Editor
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.

Discussion (3)

Edgar 5 years ago
The interview refers to mobile games, you do not mention that, this out of context

Horrific 5 years ago
even tho we all know nintento has created many classic and great games and miyamoto is probably one of the few remaining big names in that regard its also bittersweet to see that they think that is worth to mention a 500th time again - nintendo is out of the loop when it comes to keeping up with the most recent trends sadly and also they are not quite the champions when it comes to online gaming but MAYBE their outsider view on recent trends is valueable just because its a different viewing angle .

Time Is Money 5 years ago
"Kid Bankrupts Parents By Spending Tens Of Thousands On Cash Shop" and "Game Marketed At Children Contains Gambling In The Form Of Lootboxes" is kryptonite to any company that is built on family-friendly brand.


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