Mario Kart fans will definitely love being able to imitate their heroes in real life. Or almost. If there is a real simulation experience of the famous Nintendo game in dedicated areas of the Universal parks in the United States and Japan, for French fans it was a bit far away. At the beginning of 2026 it will be possible very close to home.
On the occasion of Paris Games Week, which takes place this week at Paris Expo — Porte de Versailles, EVA (Entertainment Virtual Arena), specialist in competitive virtual reality and owner of numerous virtual reality arcades in France and abroad, launches a preview of its next experience: EVA Karting GP. VR headset on your head and hands on a real imitation kart steering wheel, it’s time to start racing.
“We wanted to achieve slightly bigger goals,” explains Stéphanie Belle, EVA co-founder and chief operating officer. “We wanted to have an immersive VR esports experience, but also accessible to younger players.” It has to be said that, until now, EVA has mainly earned its reputation with first-person shooters like After H: Battle Arena or horror in front of zombies with moon of the dead.
It’s been more than two and a half years since Jean Mariotte, co-founder and CEO of EVA, came up with the idea for a virtual reality karting game. “It took us two years to say no to every board of directors and every board of directors. And in the end they were right,” laughs Stéphanie Belle.
A joyous happiness with hair flying, helmet in eyes.
Before the start of the Paris video game show, we were able to test EVA Karting GP at the company’s facilities in Montreuil. The specificity of the EVA rooms is to offer 500 m² of gaming areas full of technology. “A new playing field that no one in the industry has,” says Paul Catuli, vice president of gaming at EVA. These arenas are specially equipped with Wi-Fi 6 with free roaming (connection tracking on the move) and real work at minimum latency to make the experience seamless. Spaces also large enough to avoid collisions of all kinds. Generally, they are designed for up to 10 players, but with the presence of battle-ready karts, the teams preferred to limit the demonstration to four participants.
Armed with a Pico VR helmet on your head – “for its ability to support fast, free movements and excellent hand tracking” – you sit in your kart, which is similar to a seat on a skateboard with an accelerator pedal and a steering wheel. You fasten your seatbelt and the universe appears before your eyes: a race track in the middle of a rural landscape, your three opponents around you in colored cubes (there can be up to four in front of you). You have your mirrors and your board on which your place will appear and, above all, the collected bonuses that you can throw at your rivals.
The starter is given and the (electric) motors roar. We then drive along the route, in an environment that immediately recalls the spirit of Mario Kart. Our karting is extremely stable and easy to handle. There is no need to change gears, just your foot on the accelerator and your finger on the button to launch bombs, drones and other oil spills to stop your rivals. This small button is located at the end of a lever that will allow the most experienced (or daring) to try drifting in the race to gain speed… or end up in the background (virtually).
Everything is done for security. You have to overtake fairly and you cannot try to cut the line to overtake your enemies, where they will immediately stop you. We also really felt the virtual reality experience. If you hit a wall, you will feel a jolt. Likewise, if you are hit by an object thrown by your opponent, you will stop in your tracks. It is an extremely fun experience to live. Mario Kart fans will find in virtual reality the sensations they have always wanted to have with the controller in their hands. We ask for more and, above all, the race seems too short, although our arms gripping the steering wheel remind us that rest is also welcome.
For the little ones, from 10 years old.
If the experience seems to be inspired by the console’s most famous arcade racing game, there is no desire to try to copy it. “There have been a lot of racing games on consoles lately. It’s not just about mario kart world, Sonic I had one recently that is also very good (Sonic Racing: CrossworldsEditor’s note)”, remembers Paul Catuli. But they also admit that they know what sensations the public will look for when faced with an experience like this.
The EVA teams hope to eventually be able to offer other types of circuits to vary the pleasures and options, also depending on driving level and age. Karting GP is available for ages 10 and up, but the designers hope to lower the age to reach a younger audience. However, your system will still have to meet some security standards before that.
If you fear getting dizzy while practicing virtual reality karting, don’t worry. Every effort has been made to erase the sensation and latencies. “We completely eliminated the problem, because movement is really what we are doing,” explains Paul Catuli. “Therefore, there is no dichotomy between the inner ear and the eyes.” The virtual movement is perfectly synchronized with the real movement and responds perfectly to the player’s movement to avoid any inconvenience. “With the helmet you even go ‘faster’ than you really do,” laughs Flo Gutiérrez, marketing director at EVA.
Which can also lead to funny scenes for spectators, who see people traveling in single file in small carts with motorized wheels in this scenario made with imitations of QR codes, which allow the sensors on the helmets to orient themselves in space. A whole technology developed internally, both in hardware and software, that makes EVA famous. As to whether karting will also have the right to participate in its electronic sports competitions, “time and success will tell,” say those interested. The PGW should give the color but, after heating the eraser, we already have a small idea. For those who will not have the opportunity to visit Paris during the PGW, it is possible to warm up in early 2026 in the different EVA rooms to try it out.
Source: BFM TV
