MapleStory maker Nexon's KartRider Dash floors it to Facebook this March

It's sad to know that we'll never see Mario Kart on Facebook, but MapleStory Adventures maker Nexon hopes to do one better. The Korean free-to-play game publisher has announced that KartRider Dash is headed to Facebook this March. A social take on the developer's popular online go-kart racing franchise, it looks as if it will offer real-time multiplayer racing action on Facebook.

While that's not a first for social games, as Gameloft has proved on Google+ and others have tried on Facebook, Nexon's far more accessible go-kart racer could find success on the platform. Not much is known about KartRider Dash just yet, but given that not one real-time racing game has been wildly successful on Facebook, it's poised to be the first. And Nexon knows it.

"One thing I'm very interested to see from our own [studio] and from other companies is more synchronous games on Facebook," Nexon EVP of Social Games Aron Koh told Inside Social Games. "There a couple of synchronous games out there, but it's very limited. As a company we're interested to see more players jumping into that arena."

Based on the developer's previous efforts on Facebook, its established franchises do much better than new intellectual property like Zombie Misfits and Wonder Cruise, regardless of how interesting the former is. That said, KartRider Dash could set the standard for real-time racing on the platform. Just leave the blue shells at the door, OK?

Are you psyched for KartRider Dash to hit Facebook next month? How do you think a real-time kart racing game will do on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.