Development on Mario Kart World started as far back as when Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was just wrapping up production, and official work started at the end of 2017 as a title for the original Nintendo Switch. From the very beginning, the game started off as an open-world experience, which is why the game is called Mario Kart World instead of Mario Kart 9. Because of this, having 24 racers in a single game rather than 12, like in 8 Deluxe, was already in consideration.

Technical limitations of the original Nintendo Switch console made development very difficult, and the team shifted to the then-upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 in 2020. In the meantime, the team released the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass to fill the void while Nintendo was still working on Mario Kart World.

Because of this delay, Mario Kart World has the longest gap of any mainline Mario Kart game that exists thus far, spanning 11 years from the original Mario Kart 8 game on the Wii U (not counting Mario Kart Tour, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, or 8 Deluxe). The longest ever gap prior to this was Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64, spanning five years.