Garfield Craps On Mario Over Upcoming Mario Kart Game Shutdown
Nintendo announced plans to sunset Mario Kart Tour this fall, prompting an unexpected response from rival franchise Garfield Kart. The official social media account for Garfield Kart seized the marketing opportunity to mock Nintendo’s decision, declaring their games’ superiority by emphasizing they “will not randomly kill your game license”—a direct criticism of Nintendo’s decision to discontinue the mobile racer.
While Garfield Kart: Furious Racing and Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift remain significantly less popular than Mario Kart, the social media jab highlights growing industry concerns over the practice of sunsetting live-service games and removing player access entirely. Players invested in Mario Kart Tour will lose access when Nintendo pulls the plug.
The rivalry gained an additional layer of intrigue through an unexpected entertainment connection: Chris Pratt voices Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie franchise while also portraying Garfield in the most recent animated film adaptation. The exchange underscores ongoing debates within the gaming industry regarding game preservation and the permanence of digital purchases in an increasingly live-service-dependent market.