Super Mario Run smashes Pokémon Go in day one downloads [Updated]

Pokémon Go was the smash hit of 2016, hands down. With just days left before the end of the year, it appears Super Mario Run is poised to give Niantic a run for its money.

According to analytics firm Apptopia, the game received 2.85 million downloads on day one. Back in July, Pokémon Go was downloaded just over 900,000 times on its first day. By day three, though, Niantic’s sensation had jumped to 5.6 million downloads, so this race for week one supremacy is far from over.

Although Apple never released the launch numbers — nor did Niantic — it did confirm Pokémon Go had the best-ever first week in App Store history. By the end of the first month, the game had earned a cool $160 million, according to industry analysts.

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Pokémon Go’s launch was limited to four countries: Australia, New Zealand, The US, and Japan. It also didn’t quite jump on the hype train like Super Mario Run. The latter was announced on stage at an Apple event and hyped for the weeks leading up to the launch. The former, well, just kinda launched.

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

Then again, Super Mario Run is essentially a $10 app. I can’t imagine most are happy playing three levels and calling it quits.

Update: Variety reports it could have been downloaded as many as 5 million times and may have surpassed $5 million in revenue in the first 24 hours.