Mario Kart World

EPD began developing Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, shortly before the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Feeling they had already perfected the core racing gameplay, the team introduced open-world elements; the title Mario Kart World was chosen over Mario Kart 9 to signify the new approach. Development moved to the Switch 2 in 2020 due to hardware limitations. The soundtrack, composed by a team led by Atsuko Asahi, features over 200 tracks, including rearrangements of themes from across the Mario franchise. Nintendo released Mario Kart World on June 5, 2025, as a launch game for the Switch 2. It is the best-selling Nintendo Switch 2 game at 15.3million copies and received positive reviews, with praise for its gameplay and innovations, but criticism for a number of design choices.

• Publisher — Nintendo • Director — * Kenta Sato • Masaaki Ishikawa • Shintaro Jikumaru • Producer — Kosuke Yabuki • Designer — Shintaro Jikumaru • Programmer — Kenta Sato • Artist — Masaaki Ishikawa • Composer — * Atsuko Asahi • Maasa Miyoshi • Takuhiro Honda • Yutaro Takakuwa • Series — Mario Kart • Platforms — Nintendo Switch 2 • Genre — Kart racing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Released — June 5, 2025 • Developer — Nintendo EPD

• Illustration — Waluigi gliding through Wario Stadium while using a dash mushroom during an online multiplayer round of Knockout Tour Mario Kart World is a kart racing game. As in previous Mario Kart games, players race as characters from the Mario series in one of many selectable go-karts. The game features 50 playable characters; 24 of the playable characters have alternate unlockable costumes accessed by consuming food items found throughout races, while most of the remaining characters additionally exist as obstacles on the game's tracks. It supports up to 24 players, twice as many compared to previous Mario Kart games, and includes features such as an open-world design, a free-roaming mode, off-roading segments, boat racing, rail grinding and wall jumping and riding. Unlike prior Mario Kart games, the Grand Prix mode does not consist of four separate races; rather, racers must drive to each course. Outside of Grand Prix, it is possible to race on tracks for three laps like in previous Mario Kart games. Mario Kart World features some past courses from the series that have been reimagined to fit the game's open-world design and to include a shift from day to night. In addition, a new mode called Knockout Tour is introduced in the game; the 24 racers compete in one much longer race spanning the game's world, with four eliminations at each of the six intermittent checkpoints. Battle Mode returns from previous games; players compete against one another to pop each other's balloons in Balloon Battle, eliminate others to become the last player standing in Bob-omb Blast, or collect the most coins in Coin Runners. "Mirror Mode", which horizontally inverts the entire map, also returns from the previous games. Another new mode called "Free Roam" is introduced in World; players are permitted to drive to any location (with Rainbow Road as the sole exception), including those that are off-road or outside of race tracks. Numerous missions, such as finding collectibles and driving through dinosaur obstacles, are present in this mode. In addition, players can also take photos of their chosen driver.

Nintendo began prototyping Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch in March 2017, just before the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. At the end of that year, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development officially began development on the game. Kosuke Yabuki, series producer, wanted the new entry to innovate on the series' gameplay formula with an open world, as he thought the traditional gameplay formula had been perfected with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The game was titled Mario Kart World instead of Mario Kart 9 since the early stages of development; the developers intended for it to be a completely new approach. Most of the new playable characters also exist as obstacles on the game's tracks; according to art director Masaaki Ishikawa, one of the designers sketched a Cow from the Moo Moo Meadows track driving a truck, leading to many of the course's other obstacles becoming NPC drivers. In 2020, development was moved to the Nintendo Switch 2 after problems arose when trying to optimize an open-world racing game with 24 players on the original Switch hardware. The Switch 2's hardware specifications were beginning to take shape and gave the developers room to expand on their ideas. The "Booster Course Pass" downloadable content for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was also conceived around this time, as a stopgap release to allow development on World to be prolonged.

The soundtrack was composed by Nintendo's music team, led by Atsuko Asahi, who also worked on the music in Mario Kart 8 (2014). She was joined by Maasa Miyoshi, Takuhiro Honda, and Yutaro Takakuwa. For the first time in the series, Nintendo collaborated with external composers to arrange portions of the score, including members of the jazz fusion band Dezolve. In addition, Satoshi Bandoh and Masato Honda from T-Square contributed drums and wind instrument overdubs, respectively. Mario Kart World introduced dynamic music transitions tailored to the player's progression through various game modes. According to Asahi, course themes were designed with dedicated intros and outros to create smooth transitions between tracks in the Knockout Tour mode, where players race continuously through multiple environments. The music was structured to build anticipation as players approach each course, transitioning seamlessly and creating a medley-like experience. For open-ended modes such as Free Roam, the team implemented a system internally referred to as the "jukebox", which automatically selects and plays from a large library of rearranged tracks. Over 200 original arrangements were created for this system, many of which are new interpretations of themes from past Mario games spanning various musical styles. Tracks from Mario Kart World soundtrack—including those from the game's tracks, modes and menus—were added to Nintendo Music on June 1, 2026. Tracks from Free Roam were being added regularly to the service by Nintendo, and were all combined in a playlist titled "Free Roam".

• Illustration — People playing Mario Kart World at the Nintendo Switch 2 launch event in New York City On January 16, 2025, Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch 2 with footage of Mario Kart World. Critics likened the art style to Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, both released in 2023. In a Nintendo Direct presentation on April 2, 2025, Nintendo announced the title Mario Kart World and revealed the first trailer. Nintendo announced that it would sell for, $20 more than the standard price for games on the original Nintendo Switch and more than most standard editions of AAA games, which led to criticism. Nintendo held a Mario Kart World Direct presentation on April 17. Mario Kart World was released in most regions on June 5 as a launch game for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Famitsu reported that Mario Kart World sold 782,566 physical copies in Japan within four days. As of August 31, 2025, it had sold 1,655,926 physical copies in Japan. According to Circana, it was sold with about 79% of the 1.1 million Switch 2 sales in the United States, with around 869,000 copies being sold physically or as part of the console bundle. It also sold about 95,000 copies in Spain. Mario Kart World was the best-selling game on the Nintendo eShop sales charts as of June 2025. As of June 30, 2026, Mario Kart World is the best-selling Switch 2 game, selling 15.39million copies worldwide.

Awards and nominations • Year — Ceremony — Category — Result — Ref. References • 2025 — Gamescom — Best Gameplay • Most Entertaining • Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game • Golden Joystick Award — Best Multiplayer Game • Console Game of the Year • scope"row"|Thailand Game Awards — Best Sports Game • The Game Awards 2025 — Best Family Game • Best Sports/Racing Game • 2026 — 15th New York Game Awards — Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game • 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards — Online Game of the Year • Racing Game of the Year • Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition • 22nd British Academy Games Awards — Family • Multiplayer