Expected on October 5, this update more accurately removes the pipe requiring rubies to be operated in order to randomly obtain a driver, kart or wing, according to the hard law of the lottery (gacha). If the system had the advantage of not resulting in duplicate items, you still had to spend 450 rubies a hundred times to get all the items (more than 230 euros). Instead of this risky economic model, Nintendo will set up a direct purchase system in a new store (one more) where the different elements (pilots, karts and wings) will scroll over time. By removing the random factor, Nintendo’s game should also be able to re-enter markets that do not deal with this kind of process, in particular Belgium.
On the same day, Mario Kart Tour will have a battle mode playable in solo and especially in multiplayer. This traditional mode, present since the beginning of the franchise 30 years ago, always consists of bursting the balloons of your rivals with a well-placed shell to put them out of the circuit. “Additionally, this update will see Standard Races being combined with Gold Races, and the Gold Races, available only to Gold Pass holders, will be removed.“, can we also read in the announcement of the update. The Gold Pass is therefore still very present and the holders of this paid subscription will still be able to reach the rank S or higher.
According to Sensor Tower’s most recent estimates from June 2022, Mario Kart Tour has raised $282 million since its debut in September 2019, making it Nintendo’s second biggest mobile game ahead of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (which also raised $282 million, but since October 2017). Both are a far cry from Fire Emblem Heroes, however, which found the winning formula with $1 billion in revenue, largely thanks to Japanese players who alone account for 54% of spending.
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