The company has begun winding down paid services inside the app. Sales of rubies, the game’s premium currency, stopped at 11pm Pacific time on July 7, while automatic renewals and new subscriptions for the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass were also halted during maintenance on the same date. Players will be able to use existing rubies in the Spotlight Shop, Mii Racing Suit Shop and Coin Rush until the service closes.
The game will no longer be playable after 10.59pm Pacific time on September 29, which falls on September 30 in several other time zones, including Europe and Asia. Nintendo has told players that an offline version is not scheduled, marking a sharper break than the approach used for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, which was followed by a paid offline app after its online service ended.
Mario Kart Tour was released globally on September 25, 2019, as Nintendo’s first full Mario Kart title for smart devices. Built around short races, touch controls and rotating themed “tours”, it brought the franchise’s karts, gliders, drivers and item-based competition to mobile users without requiring a console. The app was free to download, with revenue generated through in-game purchases and the Gold Pass subscription.
The closure follows a long slowdown in active development. Nintendo stopped adding regular new content in October 2023 and shifted the title to a cycle of returning tours and existing assets. A limited campaign linked to Mario Kart World later gave the app a short burst of attention, but the company’s main racing focus has moved firmly back to dedicated hardware.
Gold Pass handling is central to the shutdown plan. Players whose subscriptions were active when maintenance began on July 7 will keep Gold Pass benefits, excluding continuous-subscription rewards, at no further charge until the service ends. Players without an active subscription at that point will receive the same benefits from the start of the Vacation Tour on August 4 until the shutdown. The benefits include Gold Gifts, Gold Challenges, 200cc races, doubled daily limits for base points and coins, faster multiplayer pipe gauge progress and a multiplayer grade cap of S+9.
Mario Kart Tour had a powerful launch by mobile gaming standards. It crossed 20 million downloads within 24 hours, reached about 90 million downloads in its first week and exceeded 123 million downloads during its first month. Player spending passed $37 million in the opening month and later crossed $200 million, while downloads topped 200 million, making it one of Nintendo’s most widely installed mobile games.
The app also became one of the company’s more controversial mobile releases. Its early “pipe” system, which offered randomised rewards, drew criticism from players and consumer advocates at a time when regulators and platform owners were paying closer attention to loot boxes and gacha-style mechanics. Nintendo removed the pipe mechanic in 2022 and replaced it with a shop-based system, while also adding battle mode.
Despite those changes, Mario Kart Tour’s long-term position became less clear as Nintendo’s console business gathered strength. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe remained the dominant entry in the series on Switch, helped by the Booster Course Pass, which added 48 tracks. Several courses that originated in Mario Kart Tour, including city-themed tracks, were later adapted for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, giving parts of the mobile game a second life on console.
The timing also reflects a broader shift in Nintendo’s mobile strategy. The company entered the smartphone market to extend its brands beyond its own hardware, launching titles including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Dr. Mario World and Mario Kart Tour. Fire Emblem Heroes has remained the strongest performer in spending terms, while other apps have either closed or moved to reduced support.
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