KartRider PC game to be shut by Nexon in surprise move

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 ...

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]