The much-anticipated release of Mario Kart Tour this September (after an extended period of testing) was a bit of a letdown. The game was riddled with excessive in-app-purchases, had a questionable loot box mechanism, and lacked a multiplayer component — arguably the selling point of the entire Mario Kart series. At the time, the in-game-menu said that multiplayer was "inbound", and we now know more details.

Come December 2019, Nintendo will begin beta testing real-time multiplayer in Mario Kart Tour. To be a part of the beta test, one would have to be a Gold Pass subscriber though — that'll run you $4.99 a month, though there's a free 3-day trial available.

We don't know if multiplayer will remain Gold Pass exclusive after the beta, but I want to believe that won't be the case — it could be hard to find enough humans to play with if you were limited this way.

That's all we really know at this point, but an online multiplayer mechanism may be the shot in the arm Mario Kart Tours needs to remain relevant. And now, for no good reason, here's a GIF of Jane from Breaking Bad that Stephen stumbled upon.