Nintendo did something strange last year … it made a profit. And to keep doing that going forward, it is planning more postrelease downloadable content.
The Mario company made most of its money last year thanks to the 3DS handheld system and a few major Wii U console releases like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8. For the rest of 2015, the company doesn’t really have any huge releases like that left — especially now that it has delayed The Legend of Zelda Wii U to some indeterminate time in the future. So to keep fans excited, it sounds like it is going to keep supporting its biggest hits from last year with even more downloadable add-on content.
This comes from Nintendo’s annual financial report, which it released earlier this morning. In the section where the publisher talked about its future earnings, it explained that DLC factors into its strategy in a big way.
“Specifically, by sequentially introducing additional download content for blockbuster titles such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, we aim to keep these titles played more actively,” reads the Nintendo report.
We’ve sorta known that Nintendo would start introducing new characters and other kinds of content for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. Earlier this year, the company introduced a way for fans to suggest and vote on the new characters they want to see added to the roster. The publisher now seems like it is confirming that will come at some point throughout its fiscal 2016.
But this announcement suggest that Nintendo has even more DLC in the works for Mario Kart 8. This comes after the company released two expansions that, combined, added six new characters and 16 new tracks. The second expansion just launched last month, which falls into Nintendo’s fiscal 2016. But the wording of the company’s outlook suggests this is an initiative it plans to continue moving into the future.
We’ve reached out to the company for more on this, and we’ll update with any new information.