Crazyracing KartRider (Korean: 크레이지레이싱 카트라이더) is an online multiplayer racing game developed by Nexon. It is part of the Crazy Arcade franchise. It earns revenue by selling virtual items within the in-game shop, including different types of vehicles and spraypaints. KartRider features fictitious fantasy vehicles and branded game models based on real-life cars, developed in collaboration with companies such as BMW Korea.
The game offers a variety of game modes, primarily based around collecting items or requiring the player to drift to gain boost items.[1]
The initial South Korean service started on June 1, 2004. Localized releases launched in Mainland China as PopKart (Chinese: 跑跑卡丁车) on March 18, 2006, and Taiwan (Chinese: 跑跑卡丁車) on January 4, 2007.
A closed beta for an English release of KartRider began in America on May 1, 2007, and ended on May 31, 2007.[2] The open beta began on October 2, 2007, and ended on March 19, 2008.[3] All references to the game were subsequently removed from Nexon America's website without further statement.
Later localizations, which are no longer serviced, were released in Thailand, Vietnam (as BoomSpeed), Russia, Indonesia, and Japan.
The Taiwan release shut down on January 31, 2023.[4][5] The South Korean service ended on March 31, 2023, despite noticeable backlash of players.[6][7] This leaves the Chinese localization the only in operation.[8]