Mario Kart World to Focus on Core Mario Characters, Cross-Franchise Racers Unlikely

Image: Mario Kart World

Nintendo fans hoping for crossover racers in Mario Kart World might be in for a bit of a letdown. While the game boasts a sizeable roster of 50 playable characters, all of them hail strictly from the Mario universe—and it looks like that isn’t changing anytime soon.

In a recent interview with Ouest-France, Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki explained the reasoning behind this decision. The development team wanted the new open-world racing game to remain firmly rooted in the Mario universe, and including characters from other Nintendo properties—like Link from The Legend of Zelda or Isabelle from Animal Crossing—just didn’t feel like the right fit. While these characters were featured in past Mario Kart entries, Mario Kart World is taking a more focused, Mario-only approach.

"As developers, it would have seemed inappropriate to us to add characters from other games to this universe. And it didn't seem necessary to us, given everything we could already do with Mario," Yabuki stated.

Yabuki emphasized that the team is digging into the broader Mario catalog to find unique characters, rather than pulling in familiar faces from other franchises. One new addition that’s already grabbing attention is Cow—a quirky racer who has quickly become a fan favorite. Nintendo is clearly hoping to build attachment to these lesser-known characters by offering a range of customization options.

"We inevitably wonder how the players will perceive this casting. But there are so many characters and so many costumes that every player is sure to find what they are looking for," Yabuki added.

Though some players may miss the variety that crossover characters once brought to the series, Nintendo seems confident in its vision for Mario Kart World.

On the other hand, Sega's kart racer Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds adds over 15 racers from other IPs. They already announced 5 racers from Minecraft and the SpongeBob universe, and more will be revealed when the game releases on September 25.

Mario Kart World is currently available on the Nintendo Switch 2.