Nintendo reveals full details of Mario Kart World, featuring an Open World format for the first time in the franchise's history.
Nintendo has fully detailed Mario Kart World through a dedicated Nintendo Direct presentation. The game marks the franchise's first foray into an Open World format, with a connected World Map that allows players to drive freely between courses and explore areas between races. The track count of over 200 makes it by far the largest Mario Kart game ever made.
Thirty new characters join the existing roster, including Pauline from Donkey Kong, Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey, Pom Pom, and several guest characters from outside the Mario universe such as Link, Samus, and Isabelle from Animal Crossing. The full character roster now exceeds 80 playable racers.
Online Battle Mode has been expanded to support up to 24 simultaneous players on large-format maps, while local multiplayer retains four-player split-screen and adds eight-player LAN Party support. Mario Kart World launched as a Nintendo Switch 2 launch title and is on track to become the console's best-selling game.