High-profile Nintendo developer Hideki Konno has been put in charge of Nintendo’s smartphone game development, reports suggest.
Nintendo Everything has translated a Sankei report which states that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors in a Q&A that “the producer of Mario Kart” had been put in charge of mobile development.
He added that the decision “should help you understand the level of commitment” the company has to smartphones. Konno has been in charge of Mario Kart since the release of Mario Kart DS in 2005.
In his official investor briefing Iwata earlier revealed that Nintendo aims to release five mobile titles by the end of the next financial year in March 2017, with the first of these planned to be out by the end of 2015.
“We have executed several organizational and personnel changes in order to properly operate the smart device business, and we will make further changes before the first release,” he added.
“We will strive to expand this business into global markets at a steady pace so that eventually we will entertain hundreds of millions of people all around the world. We are aiming to make this one of the pillars of Nintendo’s revenue structure.”