We're here with another site announcement: a small look-ahead into the future of Mario Kart Central. Below, we will get into some tournament announcements; but first, we'd like to take the time to update everyone again on our future plans on the site.
Originally, MKCentral was an idea we had planned for Mario Kart 9, or whatever the next MK game may turn out to be. We ended up not waiting to launch the site, because after considering our options thoroughly, we felt it would be better to build our community now. It's turned out that this was probably the right decision to make, because even a year and a half into the site's life, we're still not entirely at a point where we've caught up on everything we originally wanted the site to have. The good news is, we're getting there! That being said, while we don't know for sure when the next release in the Mario Kart franchise will be, being prepared for the launch is one of our top priorities, because a major new release in the series will be our best opportunity to grow into something even larger than where we're at now.
When we launched the site, the registry was functional, but still pretty limited. Just now, we've launched a new update to it. This update may not have a gigantic initial effect on our users now, but it will be very convenient moving into the future. When we started out, our system was only compatible for a single title, which we used for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. By the time a new game rolls around, we're going to want to be able to make it more functional for the next Mario Kart game, while not getting rid of any information or history from MK8DX. So while this is a small update for now, it will directly tie in with our future plans to be able to host events and information from multiple titles in the series, while keeping information from other games in tact. Additionally, teams in the future will be able to activate rosters for more than just MK8DX 150cc and MK8DX 200cc. Effective immediately, you'll be able to update your registry profile to include your FCs for all platforms that host a modern-era Mario Kart title, and we'll be updating this further if need be in the wake of any future news. Despite the new possibilities, however, the staff would like to emphasize that we have no plans to slow the rate of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe competitions whatsoever until a new title in the series eventually releases.
Upcoming MK8DX News
As mentioned in the recent Mario Kart Universal announcement, we'll be running shorter MKU seasons in the near future. As an effect of having shorter seasons, we'll also be shortening the offseasons a little bit too: expect them to be closer to 5 weeks, as opposed to the more recent 8-10. So barring any major changes, you can expect Season 10 of MKU to start sometime in May. Until that time, we'll be hosting a few additional MK8DX tournaments:Our next FFA will be April 18th, when we'll be hosting a new 2v2 FFA. 2v2 has been one of our more popular formats recently, so we'd like to just keep offering these events.
For those looking for a team competition to stay fresh between the MKU seasons, we'll be running another team tournament, once again from our Agility series. Like last time, we'll be introducing a new experimental rule, as well as shorter matches--make sure to stay up to date on our announcements on Discord and on the MKCentral site. This tournament will run from April 25th until May 3rd.
There will also be some more, yet-to-be-confirmed events following Agility IV that'll be announced sooner than later. We also plan to run a smaller side event on April 19th, though the mode is still to be announced.
Introducing Mario Kart Tour
For the final announcement of the day, we'll be making quick and immediate use of the new registry update. Recently, we've seen the release of Mario Kart Tour. Being a mobile game—a series first—as well as its delayed launch of an online multiplayer mode, there were a lot of questions up in the air about the validity of online multiplayer. A month in, it looks like the multiplayer is not only working, but actually thriving. As a result, we'd like to bring occasional events to the site.
We're teaming up with the main Mario Kart Tour Discord Server staff to host a solo FFA tournament for the game, with a small prize for the winner, as a welcome to the site for MKTour players. It's our goal that some of our current playerbase tries out the game in a tournament setting, and that some of the players over there gain an interest in MK8DX. If any players do have an interest in playing Mario Kart Tour matches, or even just popping in, their Discord server is quickly growing and developing.
Additionally, a clan war league on MKTour will be starting up for them outside of the normal MKC tournament hours (12pm EDT/6pm CEST) on April 12th for those interested. For more details, we would invite you to visit the previously mentioned MKTour Discord Server.
Our MKTour FFA tournament will be hosted on April 11th, the day before their league starts, serving as a good way to get a feel for the game. While the competitive focus for MKCentral will stay on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, lots of cool stuff is happening in their server, and we recommend you check it out on your own. We're looking forward to collaborating with them more in the future as well!
New Registry Guide & Closing Remarks
For those who are new to the scene and need some guidance getting started, or if you need a refresher on the registry system, we have an Updated Registry Guide to help you out. Additional translations in French, Spanish, and Japanese will be coming soon.
To finish things off, we'd like to thank you for your continued support. We've recently surpassed the 5,000 member milestone, with no signs of it slowing down. We're looking forward to continue growing to what we've always envisioned the site to be!
—MKCentral Staff
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