Q10 For the smart device business, can you tell us why Super Mario Run will be released earlier than Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, which were announced at the start of this fiscal year?
Also, have there been any changes to your mid- to long-term direction for the smart device
business due to the success of Pokémon GO?
A10 Kimishima:
At the start of this fiscal year, we had announced that we would be releasing around five applications for smart devices by the end of March 2017, including Miitomo. Super Mario Run was one of these titles. After that, it became clear that development had proceeded to the point that we would be able to release it this year, and we reconsidered the order of release.
Among other factors, we saw how well-received Pokémon GO was and determined that it would be best to release a Mario-related title ahead of the other titles. In the past, it was not entirely clear what kind of impact the smart device business would have on our existing business, so we were pleased to see Pokémon GO generate the kind of synergetic effect on packaged software that we had expected. Due to this consequence, we want to strengthen our development framework for smart device titles going forward. As for the basis of our smart device business strategy, we continue to hold to the three tenets I discussed in my presentation* today.
*(See page 11 of the “Presentation by the President” in the Semi-Annual Financial Results Briefing.)
