Nintendo announces new Mario Kart Tour Update celebrating Mario Kart World

Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo’s mobile spin-off of the mainline Mario Kart IP, is making an unexpected comeback with a new content update, the first since 2023. 

The new update is titled “Mario Kart World Special Campaign” and is scheduled to launch on July 22, coinciding with the Sunshine Tour, which will run until August 6. It will be followed by Vacation and Summer Tours, both of which will run for 2 weeks each.

The campaign update brings Famicom-inspired mechanic outfits for Mario and Luigi alongside four custom Tiny Titan Kart resprays from Mario Kart World. Additionally, players will see the return of the Piranha Plant Pipeline track, exclusive to the mobile game and absent from mainline Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart World.

Nintendo and developer DeNA previously announced that new content updates for Mario Kart Tour would halt as of September 2023, leaving gamers to replay recycled tours. The fanbase assumed the game would fade into obscurity. Still, to the surprise of many, Nintendo has revealed a fresh content update for Mario Kart Tour on July 18, celebrating the launch of Mario Kart World on the Nintendo Switch 2.

Mario Kart Tour initially launched in September 2019 for Android and iOS. The free-to-play mobile game garnered 230 million downloads worldwide and became Nintendo’s second-highest-grossing mobile game, generating a net revenue of $243 million by 2023.

Mario Kart World launched on June 5, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch 2 and has already sold over 1,365,072 physical copies in Japan and 869,000 in the U.S.

While there’s some newfound excitement surrounding the revival of Mario Kart Tour, gamers remain skeptical of the mobile spin-off’s future. Nintendo’s mobile gaming ventures have been quiet since 2016, as five of its eight biggest titles, including Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, have been discontinued.

On the bright side, the Mario Kart World Special Campaign Tour’s announcement shows that Nintendo still has an interest in mobile gaming, even as the company shifts much of its focus to the Switch 2 handheld as its primary gaming device.