Super Mario Run generates $30m in two weeks - Newzoo

Over 90m people have downloaded Super Mario Run since its launch on December 15th, but just 3m have paid for it.

That's according to the latest estimates from Newzoo (as printed by the Wall Street Journal), which says the game has generated $30m in two weeks.

The conversion rate of just over 3% sounds low, but it isn't too dissimilar to other mobile businesses. Zynga, for instance, says just 1.7% of its monthly active users actually pay money for its games, whereas King's conversion rate sits at around 2%.

Of course, those company's games use a more traditional microtransaction model, which can generate a far bigger income than Nintendo's one-off $10 cost for Super Mario Run. Also, whereas the 'free' version of Super Mario Run is little more than a demo, King and Zynga's titles are fully playable without the need to spend any money.

In fact, as a comparison, Pokemon Go generated $200m in a month.

However, it's difficult to judge Super Mario Run with comparisons to other titles. Its business model was quite unique, and part of Nintendo's objectives with the game was not just to generate revenue, but also bring Mario to a mass audience in order to grow interest in other licensing opportunities (such as theme parks) and its upcoming Switch line-up.

It will be interesting to see if Nintendo plans to add further support to Super Mario Run as the firm prepares to launch the game on Android.