Nintendo’s first free-to-play game will be a multiplayer-focussed Steel Diver title.

Speaking with IGN, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that the game wouldn’t be a port of the existing Steel Diver title on 3DS, which suggests that it will be a Wii U release. Nintendo did not confirm platforms, however.

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

“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."

Further details on the exact structure of the game’s business model are not yet available, although Nintendo has said that it would ultimately be available in packaged form as well.

The game would be revealed “relatively soon," said Miyamoto.