Nintendo announced it will end service for Mario Kart Tour on September 29, 2026, at 11 p.m. Pacific Time, making the game unplayable online after that point [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The mobile title launched in September 2019 and has operated for nearly seven years [1, 3, 4, 5]. It was one of Nintendo's more successful mobile releases of the 2010s, earning an estimated $200-300 million lifetime revenue, though it never reached the highest tiers of mobile game earnings [1].
Ahead of the shutdown, Nintendo has disabled sales of the game's premium currency, rubies, but players can still spend any existing rubies until service ends [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Automatic renewals for the Gold Pass subscription have been turned off. Current subscribers retain benefits free of charge until shutdown, and from early August all players receive free Gold Pass benefits until the game closes [1, 3, 4, 5].
Nintendo confirmed there will be no offline or standalone release of Mario Kart Tour after the online service ends, unlike the company's approach with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp [1, 3, 5]. The game had faced controversy early on due to its gacha-style monetization but transitioned to a standard in-game item shop and subscription model in October 2022 [3, 4]. By late 2023, Mario Kart Tour entered maintenance mode without receiving new content updates [5].
Nintendo continues to support other mobile titles such as Fire Emblem Heroes, Super Mario Run, and Pikmin Bloom, and recently launched a new mobile game called Pictonico! [1, 3, 5]. Mario Kart Tour also contributed to course design for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe expansion on Nintendo Switch [3].
Nintendo said, "We sincerely thank the many players who have loved and supported the game since service began so long ago. Thank you for playing Mario Kart Tour." [4] The shutdown highlights Nintendo's decreasing involvement with free-to-play live service mobile games [1, 2, 5].
