A new Mario Kart game is apparently in the works at Nintendo. Recent reports suggest a new Mario Kart Switch game, or Mario Kart 9 as it will likely be called, is on the way and is already in development at Nintendo. Considering the franchise has long since been one of the most popular, well-received, and best-selling titles on just about every gaming platform Nintendo has put out over the last decade or more, it’s probably about time anyway. Nintendo has heavily relied on titles outside of the Mushroom Kingdom like Animal Crossing most recently to drive sales, but it sounds like Mario’s latest console is about to get a whole new racing circuit soon.
New Mario Kart game on the way?!
Mario Kart 8 has had its turn as the best-selling Nintendo Switch game, not to mention one of the highest-grossing console titles of all-time and the best-selling racing game – it has sold over 47 million copies between both it and the deluxe re-release. The game franchise as a whole has sold over 100 million copies going back to the 3DS days, according to Nintendo sales reports.
While it feels like we got a Mario Kart game for Switch, that’s not entirely the case. Mario Kart 8 was repackaged with some fresh new content and dubbed the Deluxe version when it was released on Nintendo Switch back in 2017. While the new content packed into that release was more than sufficient enough to garner critical and commercial success, it has been a long time since Mario Kart 8 was released in 2014 for the Wii U. Needless to say, one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises is more than overdue for a proper refresh, and it’s going to take more than an AR remote control car, anti-gravity driving, and a Battle mode to do it.
Fortunately, insiders familiar with inner-workings at Nintendo’s mascot racing development team seem to suggest that’s exactly what’s going to be happening, and a Mario Kart 9 unveil could be as soon as this year.
An analyst with Kantan Games known as Serkan Toto recently said Mario Kart 9 is indeed in “active development” as part of a recent Gamesindustry.biz piece. This upcoming game will also have a “new twist,” according to Toto.
9to5Toys’ Take
Unfortunately, we have absolutely no idea what that twist is, when it is scheduled to be officially announced, or what to expect beyond that. Toto did, however, predict that Nintendo could tease the new Mario Kart game as early as this year.
Considering how many years ahead of time Nintendo teased its latest Zelda offerings – another beloved Nintendo franchise that drives console sales for the company – it wouldn’t be surprising to see the new Mario Kart game get unveiled sometime this year, even if the actual release doesn’t have a star power’s chance on the last lap to release in 2022. This summer at E3 perhaps?
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