Published Apr 16th, 2025 3:33PM EDT
The anticipation for the next Mario Kart might rival that of the Nintendo Switch 2 itself. It’s been nearly 11 years since Mario Kart 8 originally launched on the Wii U and eight years since it was re-released for the Switch as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The drought is coming to an end, but before that, Nintendo will show us more of the game in its Mario Kart World Direct.
During the Switch 2 Direct earlier this month, Nintendo announced that Mario Kart World would launch alongside the next-generation console on June 5th. We got a short preview of the game, but there’s plenty Nintendo has yet to share. That’s what the Mario Kart World Direct is for, and it’s streaming live at 6 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. ET on April 17th.
You can watch the Mario Kart World Direct via the YouTube video below, but Nintendo says that it will also be available to stream in the new Nintendo Today! app.
What to expect from the presentation
As we learned during the Switch 2 Direct, Mario Kart World is going to be an open-world game. Not only will players drive from track to track between races, but there’s also a new Free Roam mode that allows players to drive all around the world to their heart’s content. We got a glimpse of this mode during the Nintendo Treehouse streams earlier in the month, but it seemed like we might only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.
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We also suspect that the roster will be much larger than what we’ve seen so far. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe featured 48 characters — we’d be surprised if World did not expand upon that number substantially. Plus, with all of its DLC, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had 96 courses. With its open world, the next Mario Kart might not have quite as many, but we should find out soon.
Be sure to tune in on April 17th for 15 minutes of news about Mario Kart World.
