Posted in: Games, Mario Kart, Nintendo, Video Games | Tagged: Mario Kart, nintendo

Nintendo Already Has Next Mario Kart Game In The Works

Published Fri, 07 Jan 2022 16:42:09 -0600

Some cool but unsurprising news today from Nintendo as the company is apparently already working on the next Mario Kart title. Back when the Switch was first released, rather than getting an all-new title, Nintendo opted to make Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This is basically an all-encapsulating version of the Wii U title with added content and modes to make it a complete package, and it was done so to help attract people over to the new console (which it did very effectively). However, it also came with fan criticism that the company rehashed an older title to help launch the new system rather than create an original game as they have for other consoles in the past. Well, it sounds like we may be getting that all-new game for the Switch afterall.

Does anyone ever look pleased when you pass them? Courtesy of Nintendo.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Kantan Games consultant Dr. Serkan Toto was asked to give out his predictions for the coming year. While a lot of it is just predictions, there was one tidbit of news in there as he confirmed the company is working on Mario Kart 9. Here's a snippet from the piece.

I am aware Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still selling very well on the Nintendo Switch, but Mario Kart 9 is in active development (and comes with a new twist) and Nintendo could tease it this year. On mobile, Nintendo has been very silent since Mario Kart Tour's launch in 2019, but I think 2022 is when we will see an established IP arriving on smart devices again.

The two big questions we have at this point are, obviously first, what could that new twist be? There have been so many suggestions in the past for people to get new mechanics added to the game to make it fun, but Nintendo has a habit of doing what they feel will be a challenge, so it's pretty likely whatever it is will be original and unexpected. And second, when will the game be released. Speculation online is that the Switch is about to near its fifth anniversary, so if we're going to get a preview of the game, that sounds like the time to do it, which would probably set it up for sometime in the Fall/Winter of 2022 (depending on how far along they are).

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