Mario Kart 8 is one of the impressive “long-tail” success stories ever. The game was first released in 2017, and yet, it was the top-selling game in the UK in 2021. Overall, the game has sold over 8 million copies on Wii U and 37 million on Switch, making it not only the most successful game in the series, but one of Nintendo’s biggest games ever (taking pack-in games out of the equation, only the original Pokemon has sold more). Ironically, Mario Kart 8 has been such a success it kind of killed the momentum for a sequel – why make another one when the current game is still doing ridiculous numbers?
Well, it seems a new Mario Kart may finally be happening. As part of a 2022 predictions article at GamesIndustry.biz, analyst and industry insider Dr. Serkan Toto let slip that he’s heard Mario Kart 9 is in “active development” and may be at least teased this year…
I am aware Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is still selling very well on the Nintendo Switch, but Mario Kart 9 is in active development (and comes with a new twist) and Nintendo could tease it this year.
Of course, take this with a grain of salt for now, but Dr. Toto has proven he has the goods in the past, particularly regarding Japanese companies. Toto also claims we’ll likely see another major Nintendo IP make the jump to mobile this year, following a couple years of Nintendo largely ignoring the market.
On mobile, Nintendo has been very silent since Mario Kart Tour’s launch in 2019, but I think 2022 is when we will see an established IP arriving on smart devices again.
Mario Kart 8 will be a hard act to follow, as it’s still stands as one of the best arcade racers ever made, but I’m eager to see what Nintendo is cooking up. What do you think? What might the new “twist” be?
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