Mario Kart World features a wide range of playable characters, all hailing from the Mario universe exclusively. Fans hoping to see characters like Link from The Legend of Zelda or Isabelle from Animal Crossing in the game may be disappointed. Producer Kosuke Yabuki explained that the decision to stick to Mario characters was intentional.

In a recent interview with Ouest-France, Yabuki mentioned that adding characters from other Nintendo franchises wouldn't have fit well in the Mario Kart World universe. He believed that the Mario universe already offered a plethora of possibilities, making it unnecessary to include characters from other games.

Yabuki expressed his thoughts on the matter, stating, "As developers, it would have seemed incongruous to add characters from other games to this universe. And it didn't seem necessary, given everything we could already do with Mario. We inevitably wonder how players will perceive this cast. But there are so many characters and so many costumes that there's sure to be something for everyone."

Yabuki, who was also a producer on ARMS, was asked if characters from that game were considered for Mario Kart World. He dismissed the idea with a laugh, emphasizing the focus on Mario characters.

The development team of Mario Kart World previously discussed how NPCs like Cow made it to the game's playable roster. For more details on this, you can refer to the full interview.