Pricing for Layton’s Mystery Journey differs between 3DS and mobile, but justified

In an interview with MCV UK, Level-5’s Director of Games Marketing, Lucy Pozniak, has commented that though the pricing structure of the mobile version of Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy will differ from the 3DS’s version, the pricing for both games will be justified.

According to the report, the mobile version of the game will feature more in-app purchase while the 3DS version of the game will take be more of a “fuller package”.  Although no pricing has been given as of yet, Pozniak is confident that the pricing structure will not make gamers of any version feel left out or cheated.

That might sound like a small change on paper, but with Pozniak going on to mention “certain in-app purchases” for mobile users and a “fuller package” for 3DS owners, it suggests this particular branch of the Layton family tree has been developed with a much more modern, mass audience in mind than its console-bound predecessors.

“Whether you play it on Android, iOS or 3DS, it doesn’t matter, you’re going to have the same experience,” she explains. “What we’ve done is that we’ve made sure there’s absolutely no disparity between the players, so everyone is getting the same content and the same story. Even with pricing and everything else, we’re very confident about how the fans will perceive it.

Also discussed in the report is the Layton Series’ future on the Nintendo Switch. Pozniak comments that though the Switch has a portability factor in it, Level-5 is still trying to understand what to do with it once the Switch is docked. Therefore, they do not have any intentions to release Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy on the Switch as of yet.

“We’ve looked at [Switch],” Pozniak explains. “There are some challenges that we fully understand at this time. One of the things we understand is that the Switch has a portability factor, which is really good for this title. However, the challenge for us is the fact that once you dock your system it’s no longer a handheld, so it’s just understanding that [particular issue].”

“In addition, we know there are so many 3DS owners who have played Layton previously, so we want to make sure those people who already have devices in their hands have something to play. So specifically the design at this time is for 3DS, so those players can play some more, and for new players who don’t have a 3DS system, that’s why we’ve co-developed for smartphones, so they can jump on this time. But in the future, we’re definitely looking into adapting for the Switch. We love the Switch and we’re trying to put as much on there as we can, but right now, this title is for 3DS and smart devices only.”

You can read the full report and interview with MCV UK here.

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy will be released for the Japanese 3DS, Android and iOS on 20 July 2017. The game will only be released in the West later this year.