Play with nearby friends or racers around the world later this month.

Multiplayer functionality is coming to Mario Kart Tour on Sunday, March 8.Nintendo announced on Twitter that the update will go live at 8 p.m. Pacific / 11 p.m. Eastern. That’s 3 a.m. UK time and 2 p.m. in Sydney on Monday, March 9.Mario Kart Tour’s multiplayer mode will let players compete against seven other players, including in-game friends, nearby players, or people from around the world.
There are three different ways to race against other players in Mario Kart Tour. Playing with friends or local players allows you to choose your own rules, while playing online in Standard Races will let you compete in 100cc races to improve your profile’s letter grade ranking.
The final mode is Gold Races, which is exclusive for Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass subscribers. This mode features competitive races in the 150cc and 200cc categories.
As for course selection, the online mode will include three courses from a featured cup in the current tour. The selected cup will rotate every 15 minutes, regardless of your chosen rule set.
In IGN’s Mario Kart Tour review, we called the game “okay”, saying, “Nintendo continues to struggle with how to comfortably monetize a mobile game without hamstringing its gameplay.” At the time of its release, the game received criticism for having an online subscription service that’s more expensive than Nintendo Switch Online.
There was some positive reception, however, as the game took home the D.I.C.E. award for Racing Game of the Year. If you want to hop into Mario Kart Tour when the multiplayer launches, check out 10 things Mario Kart Tour doesn’t tell you.
Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.