‘Mario Kart 9’ is in “active development” with a “new twist” claims industry expert

Kantan Games’ Dr. Serkan Toto has claimed that Mario Kart 9 is in “active development” and the title will feature a “new twist”.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz about the year ahead, the CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy said: “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).”

He added that “Nintendo could tease it this year.”

It comes as Mario Kart 8: Deluxe was announced as the best selling title in the franchise’s long history at the end of last year.

According to the publisher, the game sold an additional 3.34million units in the six month period following September 30, 2021, bumping the total number of sales to 38.74million. This latest figure saw Mario Kart 8 outselling Mario Kart on the Wii, which previously held the title of the best-selling game in the franchise with 37.38million units sold.

Toto also believes that Nintendo could be gearing up to release another huge title for mobile phones.

“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,” he said.

However, a 2020 report said that Nintendo is set to turn away ​from the mobile games market due to disappointing revenue numbers.

Apparently the Japanese developer is unsatisfied with the revenues it has garnered from mobile titles such as Super Mario Run, Dragalia Lost and Fire Emblem Heroes, with the year-on-year revenue of those titles having dipped as much as 41 per cent. It comes as Nintendo reportedly asked developers “not to force players to spend a lot in games” in order to maintain the reputations of its brands.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa had initially proclaimed back in 2018 that the company had plans to grow its mobile game output into a USD$1 billion business. However he later added that “we are not necessarily looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market”.

In other news, League Of Legends has kicked off its ranked season by revealing Zeri, the next champion to join the game.