Super Mario Run is quickly becoming one of the most downloaded titles the App Store has ever seen. According to the latest stats, it may have experienced the most day-one downloads of any app to date.
Mobile intelligence firm Apptopia says that Super Mario Run saw 2.85 million downloads in its first day on the App Store. App Annie, another mobile metrics provider, touts an even higher number: 3.5 million, and that was in the app’s first 14 hours alone.
Until now, Pokémon Go has been hailed as the most successful mobile game launch ever. After launching, Apple confirmed the app had the most first week downloads of any app, ever (although it didn’t confirm what that exact number was).
It will be interesting to see how Super Mario Run‘s success compares. Pokémon Go initially launched in only a few countries, and slowly expanded over the next few weeks and months. (In August, the app hit 100 million downloads.) Super Mario Run, by comparison launched in 150 countries on day one, and was certainly helped out by early hype and marketing.
Still, Super Mario Run will have a ways to go before it beats Pokémon. The app still sees the highest peak daily active users of any game in the App Store, according to real time data from App Institute—23 million, compared to 22 million for Candy Crush Saga back in 2013 and 17 million for Draw Something back in 2012.
It also continues to be the top grossing game in the App Store, by a hefty margin, although Nintendo is likely hoping to emulate those profits. While Super Mario Run is a free download, to access all the levels, you’ve got to pay for a whopping $9.99 in-app purchase (something many App Store reviewers are not happy about). Still, Techcrunch reports the app has made around $5 million thus far—and it’s only been a little over 24 hours since the app launched.
