Mario Kart 8 Deluxe exceeds 45 million sales

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to defy sales expectations. Despite releasing in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch, MK8 Deluxe still regularly appears in the top ten UK physical game charts. Now, MK8 Deluxe has achieved a major sales milestone.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe exceeds 45 million sales

According to Nintendo’s latest Financial Report, MK8 Deluxe sold 9.94 million copies worldwide in 2021. Impressively, it was the third best-selling Switch game in 2021 behind Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Pokemon Shining Pearl.

That brings MK8 Deluxe's total lifetime sales to a staggering 45.33 million. With a sizeable lead over Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 38.64-million lifetime sales, MK8 Deluxe is the best-selling Switch game by a huge margin. In fact, MK8 Deluxe is the best-selling racing game of all time.

Not bad at all for an enhanced port of a 2014 Wii U game. Collectively, MK8 Deluxe and MK8 have sold 53.79 million units.

Mario Kart 9

There is a downside to MK8 Deluxe’s continued success, however. With MK8 Deluxe still selling so well, there’s little incentive for Nintendo to release a sequel. There were rumours that Nintendo was going to announce Mario Kart 9 this year. Instead, Nintendo revealed the Booster Course Pass DLC for MK8 Deluxe.

Split into six waves, the Booster Course Pass DLC will add 48 classic tracks from past MK games to MK8 Deluxe. Wave 1 was released in March containing eight tracks with old favourites including Choco Mountain, Coconut Mall, Coconut Mall.

With Nintendo supporting MK8 Deluxe until the end of 2023 with the Booster Course Pass DLC, don’t expect Mario Kart 9 to be announced any time soon. At the earliest, we predict MK9 will release in 2024 on Nintendo’s next console.