According to industry insider Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games, when speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Mario Kart 9 is currently in “active development” and due to include a “twist.” Toto’s full quote states:
Mario Kart 9 is in active development (and comes with a new twist) and Nintendo could tease it this year. 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 was originally released worldwide on May 30, 2014, for the Nintendo Wii U, with an enhanced version, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, released for the Nintendo Switch on April 28, 2017. That means there technically hasn’t been a new brand-new Mario Kart game since the 2014 Wii U release.
Customarily, Nintendo releases a Mario Kart game once a generation which has led people to wonder if Nintendo is saving Mario Kart 9 for a Nintendo Switch 2. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to sell well as the Wii U port has been incredibly popular. In fact, the game overtook Mario Kart Wii last year with 38.74 million copies sold, making it the best-selling game in the franchise.
Toto revealed that Mario Kart 9 will release “with a new twist.” Past “twists” have included features such as dual racers or ‘Double Dash’, the use of motion controls in Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 introduced gliding, and Mario Kart 8 utilizing anti-gravity sections for the first time. It will be interesting to see what this new iteration of Mario Kart could introduce.
While there are no details from Nintendo about Mario Kart 9, Toto did say a reveal could come as early as this year. Until then, fans of the games can play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch. Hopefully, more details will come soon about the next installment of the kart racing game.