Fire Emblem Heroes nears $1bn as it hits fifth birthday
Nintendo's hugely-successful Fire Emblem Heroes is close to a spending total of $1bn, five years on from its launch in February 2017.
Sales data provided to Eurogamer by app-tracking firm Sensor Tower shows the game has racked up more than $959m in global sales across the iPhone App Store and Google Play to date.
This makes Fire Emblem Heroes the most lucrative mobile game launched by Nintendo to date, far ahead of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp ($267m to date) and Mario Kart Tour ($259m to date).
Nintendo has had mixed success with mobile development. Early experiment Miitomo and 2019's Dr. Mario World have now been shut down, while flagship launch Super Mario Run has not set App Store checkouts ringing.
More recently, Nintendo announced a deal with Pokémon Go maker Niantic — which has so far resulted in Pikmin Bloom.
Fire Emblem Heroes makes its money by selling additional characters via a gacha-style system and additional features via an optional subscription. These mechanics are also employed by both Mario Kart Tour and Animal Crossing (the latter of which now offers three monthly subscription packages).
What might the future hold? While not strictly a Nintendo game, we're still waiting for news on Pokémon Sleep — announced back in 2019.
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