“Super Mario Run” arrives on iOS next Thursday, and with it, Nintendo’s most famous mascot will hit smartphones for the very first time. This, understandably, is expected to be a big one.
To wit: This chart from Statista, which shows recent forecasts from app analytics firm Sensor Tower. According to them, “Super Mario Run” is projected to hit a whopping 50 million downloads in its first month. That’d easily surpass “Pokémon GO” – the last big mobile phenomenon tied to a beloved gaming franchise – which garnered 32 million downloads when it launched in July.
That said, Sensor Tower doesn’t think Mario can match Pokémon from a revenue standpoint. This makes sense: Whereas “Pokémon GO” got its cash from a steady stream of in-app purchases, “Super Mario Run” will do its business from the lone $10 fee it costs to buy the game. Still, it’d be hard to see Nintendo complaining about $71 million in one month.
