It looks like Nintendo may bring Mario Kart to PC, or at least one version of it. The Mario Kart Tour Community Discord dug into the Mario Kart Tour’s most recent update, which ResetEra user MondoMega picked up on, and found a set of strings that seem to point to a Mario Kart Tour PC port. These include recognition for mouse inputs, along with a set of emulation strings, but it’s probably safe not to expect (legitimate) forms of Nintendo games playable on PC anytime soon.
As MondoMega pointed out, Google’s Google Play Games project, currently in beta, lets Android users emulate their games on PC, which seems like a sensible explanation for what the Tour dataminers found. Nintendo has been adamant in the past about not publishing their games on other platforms and made concessions to mobile gaming only when it could tie the experience to their flagship console games – or so they said.
Mario Kart Tour and Fire Emblem Heroes have become their own entities since launching in 2019 and 2017, respectively, with Fire Emblem Heroes’ profits recently passing the $1 billion threshold. Still, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe routinely in the NPD Group’s top 25 best sellers each month, it seems unlikely Nintendo would port its mainline big hitters to other platforms.
However, the Mario Kart Tour datamine did point to some significant changes planned in future updates, including new courses, anti-gravity mechanics first introduced on console, a battle mode, and connectivity of some sort with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch.
And presumably, that means we’ll see the likes of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes wind up on PC via emulation, possibly with connectivity bonuses if you play on console too.
For now, there’s still plenty of racing games on PC to keep you going, including Forza Horizon 5‘s first expansion and its Hot Wheels spin on the Mexican countryside.