Mario Kart Tour Announces Closed Beta On Android

Mario Kart will be the next major franchise from Nintendo to make its way to mobile devices. Originally announced way back in early 2018, Mario Kart’s first mobile entry was supposed to launch last March, but it was delayed into “summer” 2019 with no specific release date confirmed. Now, however, it seems like Nintendo is ready to open its game to some players to collect feedback and help the development process.

Starting from April 23, interested players from Japan or the US could go to the official Mario Kart Tour website to apply for the closed beta test of the game. This application period will end on May 7 at 7.59 pm (May 8, 8:30 am IST), after which eligible candidates will be able to participate in the beta to help improve the quality of the game.

Do note, however, that Nintendo is only looking for a limited number of testers, so if the number of applications is higher than the required number, then participants will be selected at random.

After the application phase, the closed beta is scheduled to open on May 22 and will last until June 4, 2019. However, this might still be subject to change in the future. As of now, the beta is only available on Android.

Besides this beta test announcement, Nintendo still has not revealed any of the mechanics or features of Mario Kart Tour, nor is it clear whether the game will support online racing for players to compete against their friends. With how tight-lipped the Japanese company has been, it is exciting to see what it has in store for us.

Mario Kart Tour is scheduled to launch before the end of this year on both Android and iOS. Nintendo has also said that it will “strive to expand the business” in the future.