Mario Kart World development began in 2017 as a Switch 1 title

Nintendo's first major first-party game for the Nintendo Switch 2 also happens to double as the poster child for the gaming industry's push towards $80 games. However, Mario Kart World wasn't really planned to be a Switch 2 exclusive, and was originally developed for the Switch 1.

In the lead-up to the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo has been publishing its own in-house interviews of game developers behind several key launch titles for the game. This marketing campaign has resulted in interviews from CD Projekt Red, Square Enix and more. In the latest interview (via Insider Gaming), the Mario Kart World team is interviewed, with the game's producer, Kosuke Yabuki, confirming that Mario Kart World began development in 2017 and was planned as a Switch 1 game.

“We were thinking about what to do for the next Mario Kart game even during the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and we began prototyping in March 2017. It was at the end of that year when we officially started work on it as a project”, the quote reads. However, feature creep eventually kicked in and ultimately, the game was delayed for Nintendo's next-gen console. In the interim, a small team created the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. Prior to that release, there were rumours of Mario Kart 9 being in development.

Ultimately, Mario Kart World does have a number of features that make it unviable for the Switch 1, including the new Game Chat integration, screen sharing, game sharing and other Switch 2 exclusive features. The game is really the first test for what a ‘live service' game could achieve on the Switch 2, which could open the doors for more major multiplayer titles to land on the console.

KitGuru Says: I think there are valid reasons for Mario Kart World being a Switch 2 exclusive, although I still don't agree with that massive $80 price tag for what is essentially Mario meets Forza Horizon without any licensing fees attached. 

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