Nintendo this evening announced that a new mobile game is in the works, and this time the company is planning to bring a major fan favorite series to iOS devices -- Mario Kart.
According to Nintendo, a new Mario Kart game called "Mario Kart Tour" is in development. Little is known about the game at this time, but Nintendo says it will be released by March 2019.
The checkered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTour Releasing in the fiscal year ending in March 2019. pic.twitter.com/8GIyR7ZM4z — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018
Mario Kart is on of Nintendo's most popular titles, and a Mario Kart mobile game would follow successful mobile versions of games in the Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and Fire Emblem franchises.
Nintendo's other mobile games include Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Fire Emblem Heroes. The company's first game on iOS devices was Miitomo, which was released in March of 2016. Nintendo this week announced that it plans to shut down Miitomo on May 9, 2018.
Though Miitomo was not a successful venture for the company given its imminent termination, Nintendo's other games have done better. Nintendo's smartphone profits reached 11.2 billion yen this fiscal quarter, seeing growth thanks to the recent launch of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. The game has generated an estimated $17 million globally.
Nintendo also said back in October that Fire Emblem Heroes is on track to meet its business and profit objectives. Unfortunately, Super Mario Run, Nintendo's one game that is a paid app rather than free-to-play, had not reached an "acceptable profit point" as of late 2017.
Nintendo says it has "learned a lot" about game development and deployment from Super Mario Run, however, and it is too early to tell whether the new Mario Kart game will be free-to-play or another game with an upfront purchase.
With more than a year to go before Mario Kart Tour launches, we'll likely learn more about it over the course of the next several months. Given the current example of mobile versions of Nintendo games, it's unlikely to be a full Mario Kart title, but fans of the series will undoubtedly be looking forward to the debut of a Mario Kart smartphone game.
