Mario Kart World for the Switch 2 embraces a new format for the series with its interconnected tracks and free roam mode, but Nintendo wants people to know it’s not an „open-world“ title.
Producer Kosuke Yabuki, who has worked on the series since 2008’s Mario Kart Wii, said in an interview with The Washington Post, „We actually don’t use the phrase ‚open-world‘ in development.“
Why is that? Yabuki said that term is „just a little bit too ambiguously defined“ for Nintendo to want to embrace it for Mario Kart World. Yabuki said Mario Kart World takes place in a „vast interconnected world,“ but „you still do need some traditional elements.“