Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds officially launches three-and-a-half months after Mario Kart World, and while both racing games are in direct competition with each other, neither one is an influence on the other. Specifically, Mario Kart World doesn’t have any influence on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds — and, according to the head of Sonic Team, it won’t.
In a recent interview with Traxion, Sonic Team creative officer and series producer Takashi Iizuka said he was surprised to see Mario Kart World come out as the launch title for Nintendo Switch 2 over 10 years after Mario Kart 8 released on the Wii U. However, even though both Mario Kart World and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds employ similar gameplay mechanics — among them, vehicles transforming in the air, sea, and back on land — he said the latter game won’t be influenced by the former in any way whatsoever.
“…typically when Nintendo releases new hardware, it’s pretty common that they also release a new karting title,” Iizuka-san said. “So, the dev team was somewhat expecting a new Mario Kart to be released soon. Whether or not Mario Kart was going to be released, our goal was to develop the best kind of Sonic racing title. That hasn’t changed – Mario Kart World won’t have any influence.”
It’s important to note that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has been in development since 2022, when Sonic Frontiers was in its marketing circuit and Sonic Movie 2 released, and was announced at The Game Awards 2024. Meanwhile, Mario Kart World started development in 2017, after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe released alongside the original Nintendo Switch console, and Nintendo announced the game earlier this year.
Iizuka-san’s comment about Mario Kart World taking him and his team by surprise implies that neither party knew what the other was doing in terms of developing their respective racing games. Now that both games are (almost) out in the open, the competition is going to be fierce. The gadget plates and starters are already giving Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds an edge.
