Nexon confirms end of KartRider Drift after poor performance

Less than two years after the official launch in South Korea, Nexon announced the definitive closure of KartRider Drift, scheduled to take place on September 5, 2025. The decision comes after a series of problems that began well before: in March 2024, the game had already been discontinued in the West, including versions for Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and mobile devices.

The main reason, according to Nexon itself, was the significant drop in active players and the lack of prospects for the project's revitalization. The title, which aimed to be an evolution of KartRider, originally launched in 2004, failed to maintain an engaged user base, even in Asia, traditionally the franchise's strongest market.

In an official statement, the company declared:

"It was a tough but necessary decision, considering the challenges of maintaining service quality and community engagement. We thank all the players who have accompanied us on this journey."

The update cycle will also be terminated. The last season of content, called "Season 8", will be released at the end of June 2025, with no new expansions or events planned after that date. In addition, the microtransaction store will be deactivated in July, with refunds scheduled for players who purchased unused virtual coins.

The KartRider Drift project, prominently announced in 2019, promised cross-platform matches, graphical support with Unreal Engine 4, and a free-to-play model, but faced criticism for lack of content, matchmaking problems, and constant bugs, especially after the global launch in January 2023.

This closure reinforces a recent pattern of short-lived titles from Nexon outside of Asia. Other similar cases include "Rocket Arena" and "LawBreakers", which also had early closures due to low adoption in the Western audience.