Mario Kart World updated to version 1.3.0 with a hefty list of changes

A new patch for Mario Kart World has dropped today, bringing the game up to version 1.3.0. It adds a number of requested features and fixes a whole bunch of bugs.

The changes are pretty significant. You can now play with friends in Knockout Tour online — oddly enough, something you couldn’t do before. Two players can also jump into Free Roam while waiting for a match.

Free Roam itself has received a major upgrade. The map now displays the locations of P Switches you’ve already activated and Peach Medallions you’ve collected. You can even select a P Switch from the map and instantly warp to it.

There are also plenty of other gameplay adjustments, but tucked away at the bottom of the list is this gem: “Further increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in VS Race and wireless races.” How long until they just let players pick the course directly? We’d wager a few more patches yet.

Here’s the complete patch notes, of which there are many:

 Ver. 1.3.0 (Released September 23, 2025)

General

• You can now join friends playing “Knockout Tour” by selecting “Friends” from “Online Play” “1p.”
• Up to 2 players can now play “Free Roam” while waiting if the game was full when trying to join friends playing “Race,” “Knockout Tour” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
• The “Free Roam” map now displays the locations of P Switches you’ve run over and Peach Medallions you’ve obtained.
  • You can now select a P Switch from the map and move to a location near the P Switch.
• In “Free Roam”, you can now transform into the character pulled into the UFO.
  • If “Dash Food” in “Settings/Controller” is set to “Doesn’t transform” then you will not transform.
• It is now easier to encounter UFOs in “Free Roam.”
• The conditions for the appearance of some Peach Medallions in “Free Roam” have been adjusted.
• When spectating in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”, you can now choose who to watch, even if you are holding the Joy-Con 2 or Joy-Con horizontally.
• Decreased the time between when an item box is taken by someone and the next time it is revived.
• Increased the invincible time after spinning or crashing during a race.
• Reduced the force of jumps when landing on a rival from above.
• Decreased the amount of time between when you finish and when spectating begins in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play.”
• Decreased the amount of time between passing through the checkpoint and when the ranking is displayed in “Knockout Tour” in “Wireless Play” and “LAN Play.”
• Further increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue in “Online Play” and “Wireless Play” where the ranking would sometimes become incorrect if a player went off course at the same time as reaching the finish line.
• Fixed an issue in “Grand Prix”, “Knockout Tour”, and “VS Race”, where the CPU’s ranking would sometimes drop after reaching the finish line.
• Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” where other players’ ratings would sometimes appear as “0” on the results screen.
• Fixed an issue where a Spiny Shell would sometimes pass the first place player in “Wireless Play” or “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be sent flying backwards a great distance when hit by a Spiny Shell.
• Fixed an issue where the second item in an item slot would sometimes not disappear when hit by Lightning.
• Fixed an issue where hitting the base of a pillar in mid-air would sometimes cause a large jump.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused movement to become unstable when doing a wall ride on water.
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be swept away strongly after landing when doing a mini jump while going up a river.
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes pass through the ground when hit by a car driving on the road.
• Fixed an issue in “Free Roam” where players would sometimes be unable to enter pipes correctly after exiting a trailer.
• Fixed an issue where the results screen would sometimes become distorted after spectating “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes not proceed to the course selection screen after exiting a pipe during “Free Roam” in “Online Play.”
• Fixed an issue where Bullet Bill would sometimes slip through walls when used in “Sky-High Sundae.”
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck on a wall at the start of the race heading from “Airship Fortress” to “Shy Guy Bazaar.”
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck in walls when using a Bullet Bill in “Bowser’s Castle.”
• Fixed an issue in “Cheep Cheep Falls” where item boxes were sometimes difficult to pick up when Smart Steering was turned on.
• Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” “Spiny Rally” where sometimes there was an item box buried in the ground.
• Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.