KartRider Rush+ teams with Yakult maker hy for bizarre crossover

KartRider Rush+ has picked up one of its strangest partnerships yet: a crossover with hy, the Korean probiotics company behind Yakult. Nexon announced the collaboration on June 1, and the event leans hard into the brand joke with the new legendary item kart Yakult Please, a pet named Yaku, and a stack of rewards built around hy’s own health-food identity.

This is not just a single skin drop. The collaboration also includes five types of balloons themed around hy products, the hy Fresh Manager costume, the Super 100 Strawberry Aura, and the Yakult-Eating Bazzi License Plate. Players will also be able to trade mission-earned pieces for a permanent Fresh Manager hair and costume by July 22, while event shards can be exchanged for permanent rewards. Nexon has another marquee item lined up too: the legendary speed kart Coco is scheduled for official release on June 19.

The off-game push is just as aggressive. The first 25,000 new users who join the Bazzi Delivers Yakult event through the NexonPlay app and complete a ranked match by June 21 will get 1,000 NexonPlay points. The first 100,000 coupon participants will receive a timed hy Fresh Manager costume and 70,000 K-Coins, and 100 coupon redeemers will be entered into a raffle for a 30-pack of Yakult probiotics. Nexon and hy are also pushing the limited-edition Collaboration Yakult 1971 Series set through the hy Naver Brand Store, which comes with a coupon pack and a pre-launch trial for the Coco kart. An Instagram event runs through July 12, with prizes that include 50,000 Naver Pay points or a Yakult insulated lunch bag.

The timing matters. KartRider Rush+ celebrated its sixth anniversary with an update that began on May 1, adding the Mansion Gold Rush track and, on May 8, the Saber Gold and Saber Gold 512 karts. Nexon, led by co-CEOs Kang Dae-hyun and Kim Jung-wook, has been using that anniversary stretch to keep players logging in, and the hy crossover fits that strategy cleanly. It is loud, weird, and packed with enough collectible junk to feel like a mini-season instead of a throwaway promo. In a mobile racing market full of familiar car brands and safe cosmetic tie-ins, KartRider Rush+ is betting that a Yakult kart and a pet named Yaku will be the thing people remember.