Nintendo has officially announced that it will be bringing a long-awaited version of Mario Kart to the iOS platform. With the announcement being made via a single tweet right now, the details are somewhat sketchy, but we do know that the application, which will be called “Mario Kart Tour,” is already in development and scheduled for release sometime by early 2019.
The checkered 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. — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018
Nintendo has been one of the legendary holdouts in bringing its games to the iOS platform, declaring war on Apple back in 2010 after mixed comments from Nintendo executives suggesting that Apple’s efforts may or may not have been impacting Nintendo’s bottom line. Still, the company continued to snub the iOS platform, prompting many third-party developers to build their own versions over the years with limited success.
It wasn’t until late 2015 that Nintendo finally conceded that it had to get into the iOS game, announcing it’s first smartphone smartphone “game” Miitomo, released in early 2016 (and recently being shut down), followed by another announcement that two more traditional titles, Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem would be coming to the platform, and then ultimately unveiling its first Mario title, Super Mario Run, at Apple’s fall 2016 event, and later confirming plans to continue releasing 2-3 titles per year.
