Mario Kart Tour Races Past Nintendo's Previous Launches with 20 Million Day One Downloads

Nintendo's sixth mobile game is its most successful yet in terms of first day adoption. Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates place App Store and Google Play installs of Mario Kart Tour in excess of 20 million within 24 hours of its debut, with player spending already topping $1 million globally.

As the chart below illustrates, first-day installs of Mario Kart Tour stand and nearly triple those of Nintendo's previous best launch in terms of downloads, Super Mario Run, which recorded seven million users within 24 hours of launch on iOS alone.

Looking at the publisher's most recent release, July's Dr. Mario World, Mario Kart Tour has seen nearly 31 times more installs than that title thus far. It is currently the most downloaded iPhone app overall in most of the markets where it is available, while Dr. Mario World only reached that position in three regions at launch.

Gold Pass Subscription Is Popular, But Not Yet Contributing Revenue

Mario Kart Tour is Nintendo's third best mobile launch in terms of day one player spending, having grossed approximately $1 million in its first 24 hours. This is about 25 percent of the publisher's best performing title on mobile during its launch day, Fire Emblem Heroes, which grossed an estimated $4.3 million across both stores worldwide. Super Mario Run posted the second best launch day for in-app spending among Nintendo's mobile titles, or about four times more than Mario Kart Tour.

It's possible that Mario Kart Tour will have a slower start in terms of spending than Nintendo's other mobile titles as the publisher and co-developer DeNA are experimenting with season pass monetization which includes a free two-week trial period before subscribers are actually charged. The $4.99 per month Gold Pass is current the game's most popular in-app purchase, but none of the users who have purchased it will be charged for another 13 days; Some of those will likely cancel before that point.

We will have more on the title's launch soon, including a more detailed look at monetization once the initial subscription period ends.