Nintendo unveiled new DLC forMario Kart 8: Deluxeat the latest Nintendo Direct. Many fans were unsure how to feel about the announcement, as many were hoping for a sequel instead of more content forMario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has been around close to eight years in some form or another.
Mario Kartfans have been pining for a new game for a while now, asMario Kart 8originally released in May 2014 for the Wii U. The console was not much of a success, which is most likely why Nintendo decided to rerelease the game for the Nintendo Switch, where it was a resounding success. Instead of creating a new game in the franchise, Nintendo announced theMario Kart8 DeluxeBooster Course Pass.
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The Booster Course is said to include 48 tracks, all of which will be returning from previous iterations in the series. The tracks will be released in waves throughout 2022 and 2023 with each wave containing around eight tracks. WhileMario Kartfans are happy about receiving new content, many fans have stated that they would have preferred a sequel with new content instead of a DLC with rehashed content.
Fans were especially upset due to the fact that rumors were swirling thatMario Kart 9was due to be announced at Nintendo Direct.Mario Kartplayers felt let down, as hype had begun to build in the lead up to Nintendo Direct.
Someleakers even predicted the gameplay details ofMario Kart 9, with one leaker even suggesting that the alleged sequel would change things up quite a bit. LeakyPanda posted to Twitter stating that the game would do away with coins, give players only one item slot, have large and small box types that would give players different kinds of items, and that passing through a box with a small item would upgrade it to a larger item.
Sadly, nearly all of these predictions turned out to be entirely false, along with another prediction that thenewMario Kartgame would feature characters from other Nintendo IPs- for the Nintendo Direct, anyway. The rumor alleged that characters fromARMS, Pikmin,and evenStarfoxwould even make an appearance in the now-debunkedMario Kartsequel. Even thoughMario Kart 9wasn’t at the Nintendo Direct as some predicted, that doesn’t mean that the game isn’t in development in some capacity.
Fans will likely have to wait a good while before aMario Kartsequel releases, asMario Kart 8 Deluxecontent will continue into 2023. While disappointing for many fans, the DLC will offer enough content to keep players busy for some time to come.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxeis available now on Nintendo Switch, and the Booster Course Pass launches on July 17, 2025.
