4 years after launch, Nintendo is ending Mario Kart Tour content
No new tracks or drivers will be released from next month
Nintendo and DeNA have confirmed that they will soon stop creating new content for mobile game Mario Kart Tour, four years after it was launched.
In a message sent to players, the companies confirmed that after the game’s new ‘tour’ of content, the Anniversary Tour (starting September 20), all future seasons will consist of content from tours that have appeared before.
“No new courses, drivers, karts, or gliders will be added following the Battle Tour starting 04/10/2023,” the messages reads. “We hope you continue to enjoy playing Mario Kart Tour.”
The news potentially hints at an imminent release for Nintendo Switch title Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s sixth and final DLC wave, since it has often shared new course releases with the mobile title.
The Mario Kart Tour represents another hint at Nintendo’s lessening focus on mobile games.
Compared to other big publishers like Activision and Take-Two, which regularly see mobile make up more than half of their annual revenues, the platform has made up just a tiny percentage of Nintendo’s earnings since it started making mobile games in 2016.
Of the eight major mobile games the company has launched to date, it has now ended support for five, including Mario Kart Tour.
Fire Emblem Heroes is Nintendo’s most successful mobile game by a long distance, according to Appmagic data recently published by Mobilegamer.biz, earning Nintendo over $810m of the estimated $1.5bn it’s earned from mobile games. Fire Emblem is said to make around $5m per month.
Mario Kart Tour recently overtook Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp as Nintendo’s second biggest earner on mobile, having earned around $243m from 230m downloads, and around $2m per month.
Nintendo and DeNA removed a contentious gacha mechanic from Mario Kart Tour in October 2022, after which it’s estimated the game’s monthly earnings dropped by $1m.
