1st party Nintendo title Steel Diver going free-to-play

Nintendo is giving 3DS game Steel Diver a free-to-play makeover.

It’s the first free-to-play game to come from Nintendo first party stable, although not the first to grace a Nintendo system – Namco Bandai outing Tank! Tank! Tank! went free-to-play on Wii U earlier this year.

"There is something we’re doing with the Steel Diver idea that I think is going to open things up with that game,” Nintendo design boss Shigeru Miyamoto told IGN. It’s going to be very fun.

We’re exploring from a perspective of where we can take that from a multiplayer standpoint – it’s going to have this four-player battle mode that I think is going to be very interesting. It’s something that we’re hoping to be able to show relatively soon."

Miyamoto also said that Nintendo chose Steel Diver over a more recognisable name such as Mario or Pokemon due to the degree of trust that had already been built with consumers with regards to pricing”.

Nintendo has pledged that the new version of Steel Diver will be altered to accommodate the new pricing structure.

The legendary designer added that his team was focused on balancing how a pricing model would affect the entertainment value of the final product”. He also indicated that it would receive both a digital and physical release.