Mario Kart World Was Originally Meant For The Nintendo Switch

It looks like Nintendo’s internal developers were starting to struggle with developing on the original Switch hardware. There was a push to see Mario Kart World launch for the original Switch. However, the vision developers had for this game seemed too grand for what the Switch hardware could pull off. Instead of scrapping the idea altogether, they pushed on and eventually turned it into a Switch 2 launch title.

This news comes from Nintendo’s recent Ask The Developer piece, which we’re finding out about thanks to the folks at VGC. During this piece, we heard from a few developers, like Kenta Sato, the programming director for Mario Kart World. What you might find interesting is that this game was initially developed as a Nintendo Switch game rather than a Switch 2.

Not long after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched into the marketplace, development started to pick up for Mario Kart World. However, it was found that developers were struggling to keep their vision alive while retaining the performance required for players.

When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system, it was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return. We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the frame rate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation. – Kenta Sato

It seemed that if the developers had pushed forward with the idea for the original Nintendo Switch, Mario Kart World would have been a subpar product compared to what they had in mind. We would have seen different aspects scrapped, including dropping the frame rate to 30 fps. However, that didn’t last long, as the developers instead kicked the can down the road.

We worked on it while kicking the can down the road in terms of deciding what to give up on, so at some point, we knew it was going to get messy. But as we’d decided to release Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass, we thought that would give us a bit more time to continue development. That’s when the conversation of moving it to the Nintendo Switch 2 system came up, and this suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what we could do. It was truly a ray of hope. – Kosuke Yabuki

The entertainment planning and development department producer, Kosuke Yabuki, stated that by releasing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, the team had more time to push this game to the Nintendo Switch 2. With this console, the developers could bring the game out as intended without worrying about performance drops. That’s with the larger open maps and drastically increasing the number of racers.

Mario Kart World is the Nintendo game that is being tossed out at launch with the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s also a bundle for the Switch 2 if you’re interested in purchasing both the console and game. Players interested in the game can expect it to launch next month on June 5, 2025.