Mario Kart Tour Climbs to the Top on Launch Day

This week marked the launch of the latest Nintendo mobile game called Mario Kart Tour. The game is free, and like most free games, it’s supported with subscriptions and in-app purchases. Data from Sensor Tower shows that the game reached the top spot on the free App Store chart in 58 markets including the US and Japan.

On the revenue front, the game climbed to the 19th spot for the top-grossing game. Despite its success, the game has proven controversial because of how Nintendo is monetizing the game. The games has a $4.99 monthly subscription option to unlock badges from gold challenges and gold gifts for tour races reports 9to5Mac.

The subscription price also gets players to access the 200cc races. That is the only way to access the 200cc races. There is also no option to make a one time purchase; you have to subscribe at $5 monthly.

A monthly subscription to unlock a full game mode is a hard sell in the weeks since Apple launched the Apple Arcade for mobile gamers. Nintendo must have seen the game as a blank check from gamers; time will tell if its plan works.