Nintendo’s internal project codename forMario Kart Worldhas seemingly been discovered, but don’t expect to be surprised by what it was called.
Beyond being the only real launch title for the Switch 2, Mario Kart World is a big moment for Nintendo.Not only does it take the series into a new open-world direction, but it also finallyleaves the decade-old Mario Kart 8 in the dust and makes way for a new era of Mario Kart. That era is one that’s been in the works for a while now.
Since Mario Kart World was officially revealed a few months ago, Nintendo has shared a surprising amount of detail about its development history,including that it originally started as a Nintendo Switch title. One thing that Nintendohasn’trevealed, though, is what the internal codename for World was, but that hasn’t stopped it from slipping out.
Mario Kart World’s Internal Codename Is Very On The Nose
It’s Also In Line With Previous Mario Kart Project Titles
Nintendo may not have revealed Mario Kart World’s internal codename itself, butNintendoSoup has managed to uncover it after “verifying various materials for the game”. As the website recently revealed, that codename is very simple, as Mario Kart World was simply referred to as “Drive” during development.
Sorry if you were expecting something a little more complex, but it seems that Nintendo was being very literal for Mario Kart World’s internal name. Of course, in this case, drive is more likely referring to the game’s open-world and specific focus on being able to go anywhere, but I think we were all hoping it’d be titled “Cow” or something.
NintendoSoup also revealed that the Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdomwere codenamed “U-King-O” and “EX-King-O”. That’s just the original titles with “O” at the end, if you’re wondering.
This codename is very in line with what Nintendo has used for other Mario Kart games, though.As NintendoSoup pointed out, Mario Kart 7 was codenamed “Dash” during development, while “Turbo” was used for Mario Kart 8. It seems that Nintendo doesn’t really tie specific gameplay mechanics or themes to its codenames for Mario Kart games.
Still, even if there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about Mario Kart World’s internal codename, it’s nice to know a little bit more about the game’s development history and how Nintendo approached it during its long development.
