Mario Kart 8 Just Got a Game-Changing Update for Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo has released a surprise update for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, adding native Nintendo Switch 2 support nearly a decade after the game's original 2017 launch. The headline change is a doubling of split-screen capacity to eight players on a single Switch 2 screen, up from four on the original Switch, alongside clearer visuals, faster loading and a small speed boost. It marks unusually long-lived support for one of Nintendo's best-selling titles, which has sold roughly 71 million copies, and hints that Nintendo may continue backing its library well beyond initial release, potentially setting a precedent for titles such as Mario Kart World.

Eight-player split-screen requires up to seven connected controllers, either Joy-Cons or Switch Pro Controllers, plus at least one Joy-Con 2 or Switch 2 Pro Controller, and the update also adds CameraPlay support. Player speed has risen by the equivalent of one coin, and owners of the Booster Course Pass gain a new "96 Races" endurance mode covering every course in the base game and its six-wave DLC. Mario Kart 8 originally launched on Wii U in 2014 before being reissued as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Switch in 2017, making this the latest chapter in an unusually long support run for the franchise.