Dev Blog - Regarding the April Update

Hello Racers,

In this Dev Blog, I would like to talk about the main contents of the upcoming April patch, as well as some details for the May update.

In the April patch, we will be making improvements to elements that have been causing inconveniences.

First, the weekly Lucci limit, something that has received many complaints, will be eased. Currently, you cannot obtain Lucci after reaching the weekly Lucci limit. Since balloons are consumed with each match, continuing to play KartRider: Drift after reaching the weekly limit felt like a loss to many Racers. We reviewed this as Racers continued to give us feedback. And with the upcoming patch, once you earn a certain amount of Lucci, you will still be able to earn Lucci from races, albeit at a reduced rate.

Next, I would like to introduce further improvements that will be made to the Traction catch-up system.

The Traction Refill system, which was introduced in the March Northeu update, had the desired effect of significantly reducing the Retire rate of lower-ranking Racers. However, this system also caused an issue where Racers in a lower position would not fill the Team Boost Gauge as quickly as desired. With the April patch, the Team Boost Gauge will be adjusted so that its refill speed is proportional to the number of teammates whose Traction Refill is active, for both Custom Race Duo/Squad Modes and Ranked Queue Squad Mode.

We have also seen feedback that the nerfed Traction Acceleration has made it disadvantageous to pass other Racers, reducing the fun of the race. Thus, we will be partially easing the distance that has to be covered to reach maximum speed, so that mid-to-high-ranking Racers can feel the same degree of acceleration as before the March patch. However, we were concerned that increasing the maximum speed for Traction would make controlling the kart too difficult. Therefore, we hope you understand our decision to leave the maximum speed as it is.

In addition, we are working on some improvements for Racer convenience by adding an option to toggle background audio, and a Proficiency Plus Ticket that can be used to immediately increase your kart’s proficiency. We are also continuously working on improvements for the Ranked Queue. In addition to what was applied during the April 10 maintenance, we will continue to check data regarding rank achievements and the matchmaking status to make improvements. For detailed information on the April patch, please check out the April Patch Notes when they are released.

I would also like to briefly introduce some updates that are planned for May.

We intend to make several changes in our May update, including new tracks and balance patches. A total of 4 new tracks will be added, including 3 Speed Tracks and 1 Item & Speed track. These include three tracks from the Original KartRider, as mentioned in the previous Dev Blog. We plan to showcase popular tracks included in the "Normal Random" and "Hard Random" options.

Additionally, we’re planning some balance changes for both Item and Speed modes. In Item Mode, new skills will be added to characters who do not yet have skills. Some characters will receive skill buffs, while characters with extremely high usage or win rates, even after the March update, will either be nerfed or undergo structural changes. As emphasized before, we will only make these adjustments after a detailed review to ensure that characters do not lose their unique style. Please stay tuned for more details on the May update.

We also plan to make balance adjustments to the Kart Tuning function for Speed Mode. As there is an overall preference towards Drift Acceleration among Acceleration-related stats, we're looking to slightly decrease the effect of Drift Acceleration Tuning and slightly increase the effect of the basic Drift Acceleration value for all karts. This change will not nerf existing Drift-specialized karts, as the maximum Drift Acceleration value will remain the same. Additionally, karts with low Drift Acceleration values will be adjusted so that their Acceleration value slightly increases depending on the Tuning value.

More detailed information regarding the May update will be provided through a future Dev Blog and Patch Notes. We hope the improvements in the April patch will resolve some inconveniences, and we’ll continue to listen to your feedback and strive to include them in our future development.

Thank you,

-Director Jaewoo Seo and the KartRider: Drift Team-