We already knew that Mario Kart World was being released alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5 for a whopping $80 (or bundled with the Switch 2 hardware at a slight discount). But this morning, the latest Nintendo Direct gave us nearly 17 minutes of Mario Kart World gameplay. There are plenty of callbacks to classic Mario Kart modes (Balloon Battle Mode), mixed in with all-new options (Knockout Tour). Want the full download? Watch the replay below, and read our full summary of the latest Mario Kart World reveal, as well as our hands-on impressions of the game from earlier this month.
The original story follows.
There’s yet another Nintendo Direct coming our way, which is the third in less than a month. This one is entirely focused on the upcoming Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World. It starts at 9AM ET and should last around 15 minutes.
It’s livestreaming on ">Nintendo’s YouTube page, but mega-fans can also open up that recently-launched Nintendo Today! app to follow along. We are embedding the YouTube link, so feel free to keep this tab open.
We have no idea what information Nintendo is going to spring on us as part of this Direct presentation. The company has already released a ton of info about Mario Kart World. It’s an open-world racer that can accommodate 24 plays at the same time.
However, there are still a couple of unknowns. Most of these involve the open-world aspect. Are there any rewards for exploration? Are there secret tracks that can only be unlocked by finding them? Can the same be said for unlockable characters? Again, we don’t know, but hope springs eternal.
There’s also the $80 elephant in the room. The exorbitant retail price of Mario Kart World has sent many fans into a tailspin. That’s a whole lot of money, and Nintendo only recently-released its first-ever $70 game. There’s a minuscule chance that the company will throw us a bone and knock $10 off the asking price, but this is highly unlikely given current economic uncertainty. At the very least, we could get some new data regarding the preorder date for US customers.
Update, April 17 2025, 2:30PM ET: This story was updated after its original publication to include a brief summary of the announcements and link to additional relevant coverage of the game.
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