Nintendo is done releasing new content for Mario Kart Tour
The upcoming Anniversary Tour will be the last to feature new content.
Nintendo doesn't plan on releasing more new content for its mobile racer Mario Kart Tour.
In a message to players that was reposted on the Mario Kart subreddit, Nintendo explained the smartphone title's next tour will be the last to feature new content.
After the conclusion of the Anniversary Tour, the company will continue to support the title by rotating content from previous events.
"No new courses, drivers, karts, or gliders will be added following the Battle Tour starting October 4, 2023," wrote the company.
The news comes just over a year after Nintendo replaced Mario Kart Tour's gacha mechanic with an in-game marketplace that allows players to buy a shifting selection of karts, drivers, and gliders.
At launch, the gacha mechanic–which saw players spend in-game currency to purchase a random cosmetic that would be fired out of a pipe–was the only way to unlock limited-time items.
Although Mario Kart Tour isn't being shuttered, Nintendo has indicated that its core franchises might not be as prevalent on mobile moving forward.
Speaking to Variety in April, Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto said smartphone releases "will not be the primary path of future Mario games."
Miyamoto noted that bringing the franchise to phones was "challenging" because you have to account for so many "common, generic devices," which isn't the case when developing for consoles.
Nintendo's mobile and IP-related business earned 31.8 billion yen during the first quarter of the current fiscal year–an increase of 190.1 percent year-on-year. The company said that upswing was driven by an "increase in income from royalties and the high level of audience engagement" with The Super Mario Bros Movie.
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