No Mario Kart 9, but Mario Kart 8 DLC announced
There’s unlikely to be a new Mario Kart game before 2024
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One of the key terms trending on Twitter before February’s Nintendo Direct was Mario Kart 9. Players across the world were hoping for a brand-new title in the long-running series, since (apart from the mobile game Mario Kart Tour) there hasn’t been a new Mario Kart in eight years.
Sadly, there was no news on Mario Kart 9, and the news we did get suggests that there won’t be for some time. However, the Nintendo Direct broadcast wasn’t without both arcade racing game news, Super Mario news, and Mario Kart news. So let’s delve into the details of that Mario Kart 8 reveal.
48 new tracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC
According to the Nintendo Direct broadcast from February 9th, 2022, Mario Kart 8 will be getting a grand total of 18 new courses in a paid-for DLC. The courses won’t be released all at once, and which tracks we are getting haven’t all been revealed yet, but we do know that they are remastered versions of race courses from across the Mario Kart back catalogue.
The Booster Course Pass will work in a seasonal fashion, with two Cups of four tracks released with each Wave, and we know all eight tracks that are going to start us off in Wave 1.
Mario Kart 8 DLC Wave 1 Tracks
- Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour)
- Toad Circuit (Mario Kart 7)
- Choco Mountain (Mario Kart 64)
- Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii)
- Tokyo Blue (Mario Kart Tour)
- Shroom Ridge (Mario Kart DS)
- Sky Garden (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
- Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart Tour)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass DLC release date
The new paid-for DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is going to start rolling out with Wave 1 on March 18th, 2022 and can be pre-ordered now. Waves 2 to 6 will then be released periodically between March 2022 and the end in 2024, perhaps around every three or four months.
Since Nintendo have already revealed that the Waves will take until the end in 2024 to be fully rolled out, we can assume that there will unlikely be any sign of Mario Kart 9 before then.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster DLC free with Online Expansion Pass
While the new DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is paid for and currently costs $24.99/£22.49, players who have an active subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass will get all new tracks for free. A Nintendo Switch Online membership will be needed to play Mario Kart 8 online, and can be upgraded to an Expansion Pass membership.
