Nintendo on Thursday announced a mobile instalment of the popular Mario Kart franchise is on the way. The company made the big announcement via Twitter and revealed that Mario Kart will be coming to smartphones in the form of Mario Kart Tour. The game is currently under development and the company says it will be released in Android and iOS devices before March 2019. That will be a first for the Mario Kart franchise on modern smartphones.
Following Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and Fire Emblem Heroes, the latest addition to the list of Nintendo's mobile games is Mario Kart. Interestingly, Nintendo late last month announced that its social network app for mobile, Miitomo will shut down this year.
Additionally, Nintendo also announced that it is partnering with Illumination for a movie called Mario. Illumination is known for animated hit films such as Despicable Me and Minions.
Notably, apart from the title and a release window, details regarding the Mario Kart Tour mobile game haven't been revealed by Nintendo as of now. Nintendo's tweet reads as: "The chequered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTour Releasing in the fiscal year ending in March 2019."
The Mario Kart franchise is one of Nintendo's biggest. While the Nintendo Switch sold around 15 million units since its launch in March 2017, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 7.33 million units.
Nintendo may have more mobile titles under development. In its nine-months earning report, the company noted that that smartphone-related revenue was around JPY 29.1 billion (roughly Rs. 1,700 crores).
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