Mario Kart Tour's online multiplayer will officially land on March 8 (Update: Out now)
It's been a long road, but online multiplayer is finally coming to Mario Kart Tour
- Online multiplayer finally arrives in Mario Kart Tour
It's official, Nintendo has tweeted the arrival date for Mario Kart Tour's long-awaited addition of online multiplayer. Back when the game first landed on Android in September of 2019, it was clear the lack of a true online multiplayer mode held the game back. Two months later, Nintendo released a limited online multiplayer beta for subscription members to test, and then a second beta took place at the end of this past January, and this one was open to the public. Well, now that fans and the general public alike have adequately tested the upcoming multiplayer mode, it's now clear that we can expect the official arrival of Mario Kart Tour's online multiplayer on March 8th.
As you can see in the tweet above, online-multiplayer will arrive in Mario Kart Tour on March 8th at 8 PM PT. Once the update lands, players will be able to compete against friends and family, or even perfect strangers, no matter their location across the globe. Clearly, Nintendo should have never released the game without online multiplayer, but then again I'm sure the title has been raking in cash without it, though I'm sure the coffers will fill up much faster now that Nintendo has given everyone a reason to grind for the best equipment in the game.
So there you have it, online multiplayer is finally coming to Mario Kart Tour, and we now know the exact date of arrival, March 8th. This means everyone will be able to jump into a true online multiplayer match in five days, and it's nice to know fans won't have to wait long. So if you'd like to brush up on your swipe-based racing skills before the multiplayer mode arrives next week, feel free to install Mario Kart Tour through the Play Store widget linked at the bottom of the page.
PRESS RELEASE
Rev Your Engines! Real-Time Multiplayer is Coming to Mario Kart Tour for Smartphone Devices
All Mario Kart Tour Players Worldwide Will Have Free Access to Real-Time Multiplayer Races Beginning March 8 at 8 p.m. PT
REDMOND, Wash., March 2, 2020 – Gather your friends and get ready to put the pedal to the metal! Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo’s first-ever Mario Kart game for iOS and Android devices, launches its new, real-time multiplayer mode worldwide on March 8 at 8 p.m. PT. Players who update their Mario Kart Tour game to the latest version will be able to participate in real-time multiplayer races, where they can race neck-and-neck against friends and other Mario Kart Tour players nearby or online. Mario Kart Tour is free-to-start and is currently available to download for iOS and Android devices, so players can already hit the road and begin training now for the heated competition that is just around the corner.
“Mario Kart Tour offers a welcoming and intuitive new spin on the popular series, and now players around the world can get their friends together or challenge others online in fast-paced races from the palm of their hands,” said Nick Chavez, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Through real-time multiplayer, we are giving fans of Mario Kart Tour even more ways to play, and bringing the Mario Kart experience to even more players around the world.”
With real-time multiplayer, players can participate in Standard Races to compete against other Mario Kart Tour players around the world based on an ever-changing set of in-game rules. These in-game rules will change daily, meaning the excitement never ends in the race against your rivals around the world. Players can also choose to play with friends or others nearby and create their own set of in-game rules. Finally, in Gold Races, available only to Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass subscribers, players can race at even faster speeds that require advanced kart maneuvers to challenge other competitors.
In Mario Kart Tour, smartphone owners get to enjoy the thrill of Mario Kart races while also collecting drivers from throughout Nintendo’s rich history of characters, like Mario, Donkey Kong, Peach and Yoshi, as well as a range of sleek karts and gleeful gliders. Players can choose which drivers, karts and gliders to use in high-speed races across a variety of colorful courses, including new spins on classic Mario Kart tracks, and limited-time new courses highlighting well-known cities from around the world, as well as seasonal events, holidays and special themes. In addition to courses based on these iconic locales and themes, during each event players also have the opportunity to obtain unique variations of Mario Kart drivers, karts and gliders inspired by that event.
For those looking to turbo charge their experience, the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass is a $4.99 per month subscription service that unlocks 200cc mode and enriches the gameplay experience by providing subscribers with in-game gold gifts for racing in tours and special in-game badges from gold challenges. First-time subscribers can sign up for a two-week free trial. The paid subscription will automatically begin at the end of the free trial period. Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass is not required to play the game, participate in Standard Races or to play with friends or others nearby in real-time multiplayer mode via rooms.
A Nintendo Account, a persistent online connection and a compatible smartphone are required to play Mario Kart Tour. Players can obtain their in-game registration card by linking their Nintendo Account. Those who do not already have a Nintendo Account can create one at https://accounts.nintendo.com/register.
For more information about Mario Kart Tour, visit https://mariokarttour.com/en-US or follow the Mario Kart Tour Twitter page. For more information about Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass features, visit https://mariokarttour.com/en-US/goldpass.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo Switch™ system and the Nintendo 3DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.7 billion video games and more than 750 million hardware units globally, including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS™ family of systems, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™, Wii™ and Wii U™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas.
For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/.
Source: Twitter
UPDATE: 2020/03/09 7:29am PDT BY MATTHEW SHOLTZ
Online multiplayer finally arrives in Mario Kart Tour
As of last night, Nintendo finally released the online multiplayer update for its mobile racer Mario Kart Tour, just as promised. Interestingly multiplayer isn't the only feature that arrived last night since a new camera feature has been added to the game that allows players to change their camera angle as their kart is automatically steered during a race. Of course, the fact that this is a racing game that plays itself is one of the more significant issues of this title, alongside the game's horrible swipe controls. While it's nice to see that Nintendo has finally added the much-requested online multiplayer feature in order to incentivize people to grind for the game's best equipment, it sure would have been nice to see the game's wonky controls and lack of skill-based play addressed in the recent update as well, but I think we all know that's never going to happen. Still, if you'd like to check out Mario Kart Tour's new online multiplayer races, or simply wish to fiddle with the new camera feature, you can easily install for Mario Kart Tour from the Play Store widget linked below.
