Wondering where Mario Kart 9 is? Nintendo’s wallet isn’t
A Warp-pipe dream?
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Some gaming outlets – including us here at WePC – theorized that the latest Nintendo Direct might include a reveal of Mario Kart 9. The switch has yet to receive its own version of the long-running friendship-ruining classic. But for now, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe appears to be the Switch’s Mario Kart of choice. And it turns there’s a very good reason for that.
Mario Money Maker
In the latter half of 2021 alone, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Sold 3.34 Million copies. These are staggering numbers for a four-year-old game, much less a port of a game initially released three years prior.
To put this into perspective, the recently released Metroid Dread has sold 2.74 million copies, and that already makes it the second best-selling game in its series. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s lifetime sales total almost 39 million. That makes it a solid contender for Nintendo’s third best-selling game of all time. Is it any wonder the company is hesitant to move on to a new game?
Mario Kart History
Nintendo are looking to expand on their good fortune by announcing a season pass-esque service for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This would be a strange move for any game so late in its lifespan. But Mario Kart 8 is successful enough to justify it. Rather than making a big splash with a new generation of Mario Kart, Nintendo are banking on the continued success of its immensely popular eighth entry.
And it’s more than just Mario Kart 8 alone. Nintendo are reaching back into the vault for this season pass and drawing on fans’ nostalgia for the series. No new tracks for the series are being released. Instead, Nintendo is releasing updated version of classic tracks from across the series’ history. Tracks like Coconut Mall and Chocolate Mountain are among the wealth of classic content headed players’ way.
All in all, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is set to receive 48 refurbished tracks, released across 6 separate waves of content packs. This will proceed all through 2022 and into 2023. Could the final pack co-inside with news about Mario Kart 9?
Mario Kart 9: The future or just a hope?
Nintendo fans have been dreaming of Mario Kart 9 for a while now, but it seems as though Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will remain at the head of the series for some time yet. Though with so many updated tracks inbound, that might not be such a bad thing.
