Nintendo has just inked a deal with developer Cygames to create a new mobile game called Dragalia Lost. Details are sparse, but the game will be a traditional JRPG with a real-time battle system and loot box-style microtransactions.
Too bad you’re going to be waiting awhile to play it.
The plan is that the game will come first to Asian markets - Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau - starting in a few months. A North American and European release has been confirmed, but it won’t happen until later Nintendo says.
One potential reason for this is that the game’s developer, Cygames, is responsible for the incredibly popular Granblue Fantasy, a mobile title that had over 16 million registered players in Japan.
Dragalia Lost will borrow some of the same mechanics as Granblue Fantasy - including its loot box-based rewards system in which items, characters and upgrades are unlocked at random by spending in-game currency.
To seal the deal, Nintendo has obtained 5% stake in Cygames, just like it did with Pokemon Go developer Niantic when that partnership was announced.
Nintendo’s train keeps a’rolling
The news of the Cygames mobile RPG comes in Nintendo’s end-of-year financial briefing, which also contains some juicy tidbits on how well the company has done in the last 12 months.
The big takeaway is that Nintendo is basically printing money at this point.
Nintendo had a good first year with the Nintendo Switch (selling 15 million units), the Nintendo 3DS family of systems hit a landmark 72 million units in sales this year and Nintendo plans to keep up the pace with Super Smash Bros on Switch, Mario Tennis Aces and the Splatoon 2 DLC, Octo Expansion.
We also know that Nintendo has other mobile games in the works, including Mario Kart Tour - however, they're still a ways off.
Nintendo today announced the time and date of its E3 2018 Direct, though, so we won't have to wait long to hear from new Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa.
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