What happened to Mario Kart 9? (Picture: Nintendo)
A leaker who correctly predicted everything from Metroid Dread to Everybody 1-2-Switch says the next Mario Kart has the biggest budget yet.
It’s pretty easy to make up any old rumour about Mario Kart, since there obviously is going to be another one. However, correctly predicting Everybody 1-2-Switch – possibly the least likely Nintendo sequel ever – was clearly not a guess, so when the same leaker says something about Mario Kart it carries a lot of weight.
Despite Nintendo’s reputation for secrecy, leaker Zippo has got a lot right in the past, including advance news about Metroid Dread and Fire Emblem. Like others, they also predicted a new 3D Donkey Kong game and while that never happened there are suspicions it was either cancelled or delayed.
That’s unlikely to happen to the next Mario Kart, which Zippo claims will be out in 2025, is called Mario Kart X, and is the biggest budget entry the series has ever seen.
Why it’s called Mario Kart X, considering the last one was Mario Kart 8, is not explained but according to Zippo it’ll be released for the Switch 2’s ‘second year on the market’.
As with Mario Kart 8, it’ll be developed by Nintendo EPD Production Group 9, with help from Bandai Namco Studios – who recently opened a new studio specifically to work with outside companies, primarily Nintendo.
Supposedly, Nintendo is ‘sparing absolutely no expense with this game’ and it will be one of the most expensive Nintendo has ever produced.
That’s curious, because you wouldn’t really have thought Mario Kart necessitated that big a budget, so it’s going to be interesting to see what exactly they’re spend the money on.
Zippo also suggests that 2025 is going to be ‘a massive year’ for the Mario franchise in general, as he describes it as being the 40th anniversary.
Presumably they mean Super Mario Bros., which will be 40 years old in 2025. Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, but Nintendo completely ignored that fact when the game hit 40 in 2021. Although it’s rumoured that that is what the 3D Donkey Kong game was meant to coincide with, and it got pushed back because of the pandemic.
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Although no specific release date for the Switch 2 is mentioned, it’s implied that, as previously rumoured, a new 3D Mario game will be a launch title, with Zippo describing it on their blog as ‘absolutely dropping.’ We assume they mean jaw-dropping.
Whether these rumours are true or not 2025 definitely is the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. and considering how crazy Nintendo went celebrating the 35th anniversary, there’s every reason to believe they’ll do even more for the big four-oh.
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A leaker who correctly predicted everything from Metroid Dread to Everybody 1-2-Switch says the next Mario Kart has the biggest budget yet.