Super Mario Run will require an internet connection to play (update)

Super Mario Run marks the first time that Nintendo is bringing its iconic character to mobile devices, but according to a new interview with creator Miyamoto, those who want to play will need to be connected to the internet.

Miyamoto told Mashable the main reason they decided to not make the game available to play offline is because of security concerns. Super Mario Run marks the first time that Nintendo is releasing a Mario game on a platform that isn’t a Nintendo-owned console and executives wanted to ensure that their code couldn’t be stolen by pirates.

“For us, we view our software as being a very important asset for us,” Miyamoto said. “And also for consumers who are purchasing the game, we want to make sure that we're able to offer it to them in a way that the software is secure, and that they're able to play it in a stable environment.

“This is something that we want to continue to work on as we continue to develop the game.”

Miyamoto added it was the safety concerns that Nintendo had that led them to partnering with Apple in the first place. He added that based on the current development environment, security was the first and biggest concern Nintendo had when it came to the game, but it also enabled the company to design Super Mario Run in a way that would allow the game’s different modes to communicate with one another.

“We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the [Super Mario Run] modes to keep all of the modes functioning together,” Miyamoto said.

Nintendo thought about releasing certain aspects of the game as stand-alone features that could be played offline, but worried that doing so would cause problems for the game and the player when the device was paired with an internet connection. As such, players will not be able to play the game offline at all, according to the Mashable interview, but Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for clarification.

Super Mario Run will be released for iOS devices Dec. 15 and will cost $9.99. Polygon went hands on with it yesterday, and that video can be seen below.

Update: Nintendo confirmed to Polygon that an internet connection would be required to play and offered an expanded statement on why the game wasn’t created to work offline. It can be found below.

Online connectivity allows us to offer a variety of features and services that enhance the play experience. Super Mario Run is not a static experience, but rather one that players can continue to return to again and again to enjoy something new and unexpected. For example, online connectivity can offer the following:

Access to other users’ play data and scores for automatically generated Toad Rally challenges.

In-game events that will offer players new challenges and rewards for a limited time.

Linkage to Nintendo Account to access save data from multiple devices. For example, if players have Super Mario Run on their iPhone and iPad, they can share one save file across the different devices. However, this save data cannot be used with different devices at the same time.