Since 2019, Mario Kart Tour has offered fans a way to play the popular Nintendo racing game on the go. Throughout this time, the free-to-play mobile game has enjoyed impressively high ratings in the Apple App Store and Google Play. Now, however, Nintendo has announced that the long-running Mario Kart spin-off will shut down. Effective at 2 AM ET on September 30th, the online servers will be shut down, and Mario Kart Tour will be fully unplayable. This marks almost exactly 7 years from the game’s launch to its final day.
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Nintendo shared the news of the pending shutdown for Mario Kart Tour via social media and an in-app notification. Though the team extends a thank you to players for supporting the game, the announcement doesn’t name a specific reason for the end of service. Most likely, the game’s player numbers no longer justify keeping the servers running. But those who are still playing are certainly sad to see it go.
What’s Happening with Rubies and Gold Pass ahead of Mario Kart Tour Shutdown
Of course, with any mobile game, one of the big questions surrounding the end of service is what happens with your microtransactions. Thankfully, Nintendo has laid out what’s next for in-game sales and for Gold Pass subscribers. While you can continue to play the game until the full server shutdown on September 30th, ruby sales have been discontinued effective now.
As for the Gold Pass subscription, all automatic renewals have been cancelled. Like ruby sales, new subscriptions have been fully disabled. So, you won’t be able to spend money in Mario Kart Tour, effective today. If you have an active subscription, you will continue to get the Gold Pass Benefits until the game shuts down. Free-to-play gamers can continue to play the game. When the Vacation Tour begins on August 4th, all players will be able to enjoy the benefits of a Gold Pass subscription up through the game’s shutdown.
No Offline Version Currently Planned for Mario Kart Tour
When Nintendo shut down another popular mobile game, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, fans got a new, offline version to enjoy. Naturally, several comments on the initial Mario Kart Tour post are asking for a similar fate for Mario Kart Tour. However, Nintendo hasn’t outlined any such plans for the game thus far. And in my opinion, they aren’t likely to.
While Pocket Camp had social features, a lot of the gameplay was geared towards single-player content. In contrast, Mario Kart World was largely modeled around its online multiplayer gameplay. As such, an offline version of the game without the servers up and running probably doesn’t make as much sense as it did for Pocket Camp.
If you’re an active Mario Kart Tour player, you have until September 30th to enjoy the game. After that, your best bet for Mario Kart will be the good old-fashioned console releases like Mario Kart World. This shutdown could pave the way for something new in the world of Nintendo mobile games, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
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