Mario Kart World Hackers are Ruining Online Races

Mario Kart World has a different problem, and this time it's hackers. With the Nintendo Switch 2 already jailbroken and homebrew being developed, players are already finding ways to modify the game, with some using cheats to disrupt online races and time trial leaderboards.

New clips of hackers showing up in online matches are popping up, and it looks like it's spreading fast. Some zoom off immediately with Star power, go as fast as 200cc, and have unlimited items. This includes repeatedly triggering lightning strikes across the track, making races almost impossible for everyone else.

Cheating isn't exactly new to Nintendo games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii have dealt with similar problems before, as has Splatoon. Adding to the frustration is Mario Kart World's competitive ranking system.

As you climb the ranking system in Mario Kart World, it feels more competitive, unlike Mario Kart 8.

If you reach the upper 8,500s, you can lose a fair amount of points by finishing anywhere between 6th and 7th place. Reaching the 9,000s already requires considerable practice, but hackers can potentially destroy legitimate players' rankings while boosting their own scores to 9,999.

The time trial leaderboards are suffering as well. Players normally have access to only three mushrooms during time trials, so they need to plan their use carefully to achieve the fastest possible times. Hackers, however, are adding things that shouldn't be there, like Bullet Bills, to gain an unfair advantage.

This is especially bad for competitive drivers who have spent hours learning track layouts, finding shortcuts, and honing their driving skills. Real records being pushed down by hacked times takes a lot of the fun out of competing on the leaderboard.

Nintendo's response remains unclear.

The company could remove suspicious records, but identifying every hacked time across the game's tracks would be difficult. It's unclear if that will mean resetting existing leaderboard data for Nintendo, but the fix may also require a system update.

Even more worrying, Mario Kart World supports 24 racers in one match. That means multiple hackers could show up in the same race, which could make online matches frustrating for competitive and casual gamers alike.

Interestingly, not every Switch 2 modification has had a negative impact on the game. Modders have also introduced a working 200cc mode into Mario Kart World, showing just how much faster the existing tracks can become.

The video shows players zipping through traffic and through the game's open world at much faster speeds. A proper 200cc mode could give you another reason to return to familiar tracks, practice new techniques, and improve your time trial records.

It could also liven up some of the longer straightaway sections by increasing the overall pace. Mario Kart 8 eventually received its 200cc mode through a free update, so Nintendo could still introduce something similar in a future Mario Kart World update.

For now, though, hackers are creating problems across both online races and competitive leaderboards. With the Switch 2's homebrew scene continuing to develop, Nintendo will need to address cheating before it causes even more damage to Mario Kart World's online experience.