Nintendo is pulling the plug on Mario Kart Tour tonight. Service for the mobile racer ends at 11:00 PM Pacific on September 29, after which the game becomes completely unplayable, even for players who already have it installed on their iPhones.
The shutdown has been a long time coming. Nintendo announced the end of service in July, and an FAQ confirms that an offline version of Mario Kart Tour is not scheduled for release. Once the servers go dark, every driver, kart, glider and cup collected over the years disappears with them.
Nintendo has been winding the game down for months. Ruby sales ended at 11:00 PM Pacific on July 7, though remaining rubies can still be spent in the Spotlight Shop, Mii Racing Suit Shop and Coin Rush until service ends tonight. Automatic renewals for the Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass were also stopped in July, with Gold Pass perks available at no cost through the final day.
Mario Kart Tour launched on iOS and Android in September 2019 as Nintendo’s big bet on mobile racing, built together with DeNA. New content development wrapped up in late 2023, and Nintendo removed the game’s controversial gacha pipe in October 2022. It still went on to become Nintendo’s second-highest-grossing mobile game.
The franchise itself is in good hands. Mario Kart World launched alongside the Switch 2 in June, so tonight’s shutdown closes the mobile chapter rather than the series. If you have any rubies left, spend them before 11 PM, because after that the chequered flag falls for good.
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