The first batch of Nintendo smartphone games are set to be free-to-play, according to co-developer DeNA.

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The Wall Street Journal reports comments made by DeNA chief executive Isao Moriyasu said at an earnings briefing suggest that early games will instead rely on in-app microtransactions."Games currently in the pipeline are all free-to-play," he said. Additionally, Moriyasu also warned against referring to DeNA's first smartphone project with Nintendo Miitomo , as a game, saying instead it's an entertainment feature, though in the fullness of time and with the addition of new features it could become such.Nintendo’s partnership with DeNA was first announced in March. At the time, Nintendo said development would be handled “mainly by Nintendo,” while DeNA would be “primarily responsible for the service-oriented operations.” The partnership promises five new titles by March 2017, though some analysts predict the “bigger” franchises won’t be revealed until next year.Miitomo isn’t the first Nintendo-connected title to appear on mobile, as separate from the DeNA partnership, The Pokemon Company revealed Pokemon Go earlier this year, in addition to releasing Pokemon Shuffle for iOS and Android, and Pokemon Trading Card Game Online for iPad.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter