The mobile version of Mario Kart has been a massive hit for Nintendo, raking in millions of downloads on iPhone and Android. The racing game, however, launched without support for multiplayer, which is easily the best feature one could dream of for Mario Kart Tour. It’s one think racing against AI, and quite another facing your friends. Nintendo confirmed that multiplayer support is in the works for Mario Kart Tour, and you’re about to get your first taste of the game. However, you’ll have to pay to play, so you should start considering that $4.99 Gold Pass subscription right away if you’re not already a paying customer.
Nintendo dropped the news on the official Twitter handle of the game, saying that the “real-time multiplayer beta test” is planned for December, and will be available to Gold Pass subscribers:
A real-time multiplayer beta test is planned for December and will be available to #MarioKartTour Gold Pass subscribers.
Stay tuned here for more details coming soon. pic.twitter.com/xNIdJE44cI— Mario Kart Tour (@mariokarttourEN) November 1, 2019
Nintendo didn’t say when the beta test is launching or how long it’ll last. And we don’t know when the feature will roll out in full to iPhone and Android.
The announcement does suggest that both iPhone and Android players will be included in the multiplayer test, as long as they’re subscribers, which must be great news to players who really want to try multiplayer as soon as possible.
Hopefully, the multiplayer feature will be available for free to all Mario Kart Tour players when Nintendo rolls it out, rather than being restricted to Gold Pass subscribers. To test the system, however, making it a Gold Pass-only option does make some sense. Nintendo might want to limit the functionality at first, and Gold Pass can help with that. Also, subscribers might play the game more than casual gamers, which would give Nintendo a large enough pool of players who’d commit to plenty of multiplayer races.
Subscribing for Gold Pass is real easy if you want to get in on the multiplayer action, but if that’s the only reason you’d be willing to pay the $4.99 monthly fee, then you’d better wait for the multiplayer mode to be released. Gold Pass also gets you access to the fastest speed class, 200cc, and various rewards for single-player races.
