55 F
Los Angeles
Thursday, March 20, 2025

KartRider PC game to be shut by Nexon in surprise move

An image of KartRider, online racing game by Nexon [NEXON]

An image of KartRider, online racing game by Nexon [NEXON]

Nexon will shut down its KartRider online PC racing game after 18 years of service, the company said in a notice Sunday.

“We have decided to shut down the KartRider service,” Cho Jae-yun, director of KartRider at the game’s developer and Nexon subsidiary Nitro Studio, wrote in a web posting.

“We were initially planning to give you the news, being as grave and important as it is, through a livestream on Jan. 5 after the final round of the 2022 KartRider League Super Cup competition. We apologize for the confusion we have caused due to press reports that came beforehand.”

Further details, including the termination date and refund methods, will be revealed on Jan. 5 through a livestream, Cho said.

KartRider was released in 2004 as an online racing game developed by Nexon. Nitro Studio is a subsidiary of Nexon established 50-50 with Wonder Holdings, the largest shareholder of WeMakePrice, in August 2020.

Nirtro Studios lost 10.1 billion won ($7.7 million) on a net basis in 2021, up from a 2.5-billion-won net loss in 2020.

The studio will be releasing a new KartRider spinoff, KartRider: Drift, next month.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]

The Korea Daily
The Korea Daily
Founded in 1974, The Korea Daily (미주중앙일보) is the largest Korean media outlet in the U.S., providing in-depth coverage of local, national, and international news with a strong focus on immigration, business, and the Korean-American community. While covering major cities across the U.S., including New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, and Dallas, as well as Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, The Korea Daily primarily focuses on news in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Headquartered in Koreatown, Los Angeles, it serves as a key news source for Korean Americans in Southern California.