Velan Studios last week made a tough announcement - revealing it would be shutting down its free-to-play multiplayer title Knockout City on 6th of June this year. In the same update, it said it had other IPs and products it was "very excited about".

If you were wondering what's next, it seems the American developer is working on a follow-up to Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit with a new "mixed-reality racing experience" called Hot Wheels: Rift Rally. Much like Mario Kart Live, it will blend real-world environments with the digital world.

This new racer puts players behind the wheel of more than 140 Hot Wheels vehicles using the Chameleon RC car, which can "digitally transform". The game will also come with a campaign mode (including "Rift Gates" as checkpoints) and a stunt mode, where players perform all sorts of crazy moves to earn a high score.

The catch at the moment is Hot Wheels: Rift Rally has only been announced for iOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. It's due out next month on 14th March 2023 and will be priced at $129.99 USD for the standard edition and $149.99 USD for the collector's edition. Again though, you're going to need to own one of these platforms to be able to play it.

You can learn more on our PlayStation website Push Square.

Hot Wheels
Image: Velan Studios

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit's most recent patch dates back to November 2021. It added a Luigi Cup to the Grand Prix, new mods, a multiplayer split-screen mode, new gate types and karts, and much more.

If we hear anything about a Hot Wheels: Rift Rally Nintendo release, we'll be sure to update you. Would you like to see this follow-up to Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit released on a Nintendo platform at some point? What other Nintendo IP do you think could be adapted to Velan's "mixed-reality racing experience"? Comment below.

Would you like to see this new "mixed-reality racing experience" on a Nintendo platform? (306 votes)

  1. Yes, absolutely!36%
  2. No, I'm not really interested64%

[source businesswire.com]