Two years’ worth of DLC for a game that’s already five years old doesn’t bode well for Mario Kart 9.
During February’s Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be getting 48 new courses as paid DLC. All of the tracks are remastered courses from previous Mario Kart titles, from Super Mario Kart to the recent Mario Kart Tour, and will be released in six packs of eight. The first pack will arrive on March 18, and the rest of them will be added periodically through the end of 2023. While exciting, this announcement is also a death knell for anyone hoping for Mario Kart 9. It shows that Nintendo is planning to support the Switch title through 2023, potentially pushing a new Mario Kart entry back to the next console generation. Nintendo has always been known to buck trends and defy norms, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ‘s DLC delivery dates shed some light on the true longevity of both Mario Kart and the Switch. Released in 2017, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe wasn’t a brand-new Mario Kart installment to begin with. It’s the complete edition of 2014’s Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U, which was constrained to the poorly-selling Wii U. Mario Kart 8 received its own DLC in the form of new and classic courses in The Legend of Zelda x Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing x Mario Kart 8 packs. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe included these paid DLCs, as well as the free Mercedes-Benz DLC, together in one package for Switch owners. While Deluxe only added a few new features of its own, it reached a much wider audience than it did previously because of its presence on the more popular Switch. During its tenure on the Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has perpetually been the console’s best-selling game.
