Game Freak might make a ton of money from pocket monsters, but it could make even more from mobile.
The studio is bringing its solitaire-based horse-racing game, aptly titled Soliti Horse, to iOS and Android, according to the game’s official website (which Siliconera first spotted). Soliti Horse will debut on smartphones and tablets in Japan as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases. This is Game Freak’s first push into mobile gaming. Consumers spent $16 billion on smartphone games last year, and Japan’s gamers spend more than those in any other country.
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Game Freak is best known as the developer of Nintendo’s Pokémon role-playing games. While Nintendo controls what happens to its pocket monster video games, it actually doesn’t own Game Freak. The studio is free to do whatever it wants with its other properties. Previously, the developer self-published Soliti Horse to the 3DS eShop in Japan, but the company obviously couldn’t ignore the earnings potential that mobile offers.
This is just the most recent news of something Pokémon and Nintendo related going to mobile. Last week, GamesBeat reported that The Pokémon Company is porting the digital version of the Pokémon card game to iPad. That news, coupled with today’s announcement, might make it seem like Nintendo’s mobile support is inevitable. Earlier today, however, a GamesBeat report explained why that isn’t the case.
Nintendo only owns 33 percent of The Pokémon Company. Game Freak and Pokémon codeveloper Creatures Inc own the other 66 percent between them. So while the pocket-monster developer and the Pokémon brand are all heading to mobile, Nintendo is keeping the rest of its properties and the “real” Pokémon games exclusive to its hardware — at least for now.