After nearly seven years on the road, Mario Kart Tour is approaching the finish line. Nintendo has confirmed that the free-to-play mobile racer will permanently shut down on September 29, 2026, at 11 p.m. PT, ending support for the iPhone and Android title without offering players an offline version.
Once the servers go dark, the game—and its exclusive content—will no longer be playable.
According to IGN, the company has already begun winding down the game's live service. Sales of Rubies, the title's premium currency, have ended, while automatic renewals for the Gold Pass subscription have been canceled. Nintendo will let current Gold Pass subscribers keep most benefits for free until service ends, while players without a subscription will get access to Gold Pass benefits starting August 4.
The final weeks will also feature farewell events and steep discounts in the in-game shop, giving longtime fans one last opportunity to spend any remaining currency before service ends.
Launched in September 2019, Mario Kart Tour brought Nintendo's iconic racing series to smartphones with one-finger controls that automatically handled steering and drifting, making the game easy to pick up on the go.
It also stood out by sending racers through stylized versions of real-world cities including New York, Tokyo, and Paris, while introducing rotating themed Tours every two weeks and its signature Frenzy mechanic, which rewarded players with temporary invincibility and unlimited item use after collecting three matching power-ups.
The game's city tracks later inspired courses included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass.
Nintendo acknowledged the community that kept the game alive throughout its run. "We sincerely thank the many players who have loved and supported the game since service began so long ago," the company said in a blog post announcing the closure. "Thank you for playing Mario Kart Tour."
One notable omission from Nintendo's shutdown plans is an offline replacement. While Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp received a standalone version after its online service ended, Nintendo confirmed that "an offline version is not scheduled for release."
The shutdown also reflects Nintendo's increasingly streamlined mobile lineup. Although Mario Kart Tour outlasted many of the company's smartphone releases—and overcame early criticism by replacing its controversial gacha-style unlock system with a traditional item shop in 2022—its departure leaves only a handful of Nintendo mobile games still active, including Fire Emblem Heroes, Super Mario Run, and Pikmin Bloom.
Nintendo has continued experimenting in the mobile space, however, most recently with the launch of Pictonico!, an app that transforms photos into WarioWare-inspired minigames.
