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Mario Kart Tour Shutting Down After 7 Years, Nintendo Confirms
IGN • • technology
Key Points:
- Nintendo will shut down its smartphone game Mario Kart Tour on September 29, ending seven years of service since its launch in September 2019.
- The game, one of Nintendo's longest-running mobile titles, will no longer sell in-game currency or renew Gold Pass subscriptions, but all players will retain subscription benefits until shutdown.
- Unlike Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, no offline version of Mario Kart Tour will be released, meaning several unique tracks will become permanently unplayable.
- Mario Kart Tour contributed to the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Switch expansion and was initially controversial due to its gacha-style mechanics, which were replaced by a standard item shop and subscription model in 2022.
- Nintendo continues to maintain a small mobile game portfolio with titles like Fire Emblem Heroes, Super Mario Run, and Pikmin Bloom, and recently launched Pictonico!, a new app featuring WarioWare-style minigames.
