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Nintendo and game publisher DeNA will discontinue creating new content for the mobile game Mario Kart Tour<\/em><\/a> starting October 4th, Video Games Chronicle<\/em> reports<\/a>. The move indicates Nintendo may be pivoting its focus away from mobile games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The companies will release new Mario Kart Tour<\/em> content as a part of its Anniversary Tour starting September 20th. Following the Battle Tour\u2019s launch on October 4th, however, the company will only release old content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNo new courses, drivers, karts, or gliders will be added following the Battle Tour starting 04\/10\/2023,\u201d Nintendo wrote in a message<\/a> to players, though the company did not explain why. \u201cWe hope you continue to enjoy playing Mario Kart Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mario Kart Tour<\/em> recently became Nintendo\u2019s second biggest earner on mobile after Fire Emblem Heroes<\/em><\/a>.<\/em> It earned around $243 million after being downloaded 230 million times, while the free-to-play version was the most downloaded iPhone game when it was released in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yet mobile games have made up a relatively small percentage of Nintendo\u2019s earnings compared to rival publishers like Activision\u00a0and\u00a0Take-Two. That might explain why Nintendo has ended support for five of eight major mobile games since the company started producing content for mobile in 2016 \u2014 Mario Kart Tour <\/em>included.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And while Mario Kart Tour <\/em>has achieved some success, it, too, has taken a hit. The game\u2019s estimated monthly earnings dropped by $1 million last October after Nintendo and DeNA got rid of the game\u2019s controversial gacha system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBy expanding to PC and mobile, and it must be said\u2026 also to live services, we have the opportunity to move from a situation of being present in a very narrow segment of the overall gaming software market, to being present pretty much everywhere,\u201d said Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan\u00a0last year, reports Video Games Chronicle<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n