Nintendo announced on Wednesday that a Mario Kart game will be coming to the smartphone. "The checkered flag has been raised and the finish line is near," Nintendo wrote in a tweet. "A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour!"
In the past, Nintendo has rejected the notion of taking their biggest franchises, such as Mario Kart and Donkey Kong, to the world of smartphones. However, this past December, a Wall Street Journal article reported that Nintendo was looking to align itself with more mobile gaming developers. The video game company previously acquired a 10 percent stake in DeNa.
Nintendo's goal last year was to make a splash by releasing five mobile titles. Only four came out: Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Fire Emblem Heroes, Super Mario Run, and the defunct Miitomo. The missed target hasn't stopped Nintendo from aiming even higher with this Mario Kart game, and a rumored Legend of Zelda title coming down the road.
Mario Kart Tour is slated for a release sometime between April 2018 and March 2019.
