After seven years of operation, Nintendo has announced the permanent closure of Mario Kart Tour, its mobile game launched in September 2019. The servers will be shut down on September 30, 2026, and no offline version will be offered. Players will, however, be able to view their statistics until January 13, 2027, while some leaderboards will remain accessible on the official website until the end of September 2027.
Before its closure, the Japanese publisher is offering numerous perks to remaining users. In-game rewards will be increased to help players complete their collections, while the benefits of the Gold Pass will be offered for free starting August 5th. However, subscriptions are no longer available, and the purchase of rubies, the game's virtual currency, has already been disabled.
A success that has faded over time
Nintendo's first real success on smartphones, Mario Kart Tour, had recorded 90 million downloads in its first week of launch before exceeding 200 million in 2021. Its free economic model, based on in-app purchases, had allowed it to generate several tens of millions of dollars in its first weeks.
Due to a lack of major new content in recent years, public interest has gradually waned. Nintendo explains that it is therefore moving on from this mobile version, while reminding players that several tracks created for Mario Kart Tour are now available in the latest console versions of the series.
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