How to watch Mario Kart World Direct – everything you need to know about the Switch 2 launch game

(Image credit: Nintendo)

last updated 17 April 2025

Nintendo has certainly been busy with Direct presentations recently, having already hosted a game showcase and the small matter of the Nintendo Switch 2 launch event in recent times.

Now it's about to hold another, with a dedicated online stream planned for today to give us a deep dive on the Switch 2 launch game, Mario Kart World. It'll run for around 15 minutes, kicking off at 2pm UK time, and you can watch it below.

Mario Kart World Direct – 17/04/2025 - YouTube

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Here are additional details you might need, too.

When will the Mario Kart World Direct be streamed?

The Mario Kart World Direct will start at 2pm UK time today, Thursday 17 April 2025.

Here are the start times for your location:

US West Coast: 06:00 PDT
US East Coast: 09:00 EDT
UK: 14:00 BST
Central Europe: 15:00 CEST
India (New Delhi): 18:30 IST
China (Beijing): 21:00 CST
Japan (Tokyo): 22:00 JST
South Korea (Seoul): 22:00 KST
Australia (Sydney): 23:00 AEST

How to watch the Mario Kart World Direct live

You can watch the Mario Kart World Direct presentation right here on T3 via the video further up this page.

Alternatively, it'll also be available to stream via Nintendo's YouTube channel, or the official Nintendo Direct website.

What to expect during the Mario Kart World Direct presentation

As it will only last for 15 minutes, we don't expect to see a whole lot of gameplay of Mario Kart World during the presentation, but it should give us more on tracks, characters and how the open-world elements will work.

The game was shown in part during the main Nintendo Switch 2 overview a few weeks ago, with an announcement trailer also being made available.

Mario Kart World – Announcement Trailer (Nintendo Switch 2) - YouTube

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It certainly looks a step up from the last instalment in the series, which was remarkably first released on Wii U a decade ago. However, we'll hopefully find out more about its possible 120Hz mode, and how the different race types work.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be available from 5 June 2025 with pre-orders open in the UK and some other regions. It looks like North American pre-orders might also be available soon.

You can check out which retailers in the UK have stock in our handy Switch 2 stock tracker. We'll update it right up until launch day – and even beyond.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.