Mario Kart 8 has now sold over 50 million copies

While we’re still waiting for Mario Kart 9 to be announced, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to sell by the bucketload on Nintendo Switch. Now, MK8 has achieved a new sales milestone, with over 50 million units sold worldwide.

Mario Kart 8 has sold over 50 million copies

According to Nintendo’s latest financial earnings report, MK8 Deluxe sold 7.96 million units between 1 April and 31 December 2021. That brings MK8 Deluxe’s lifetime sales to 43.35 million, making it the best-selling game in the franchise ahead of Mario Kart Wii.

Combining sales of the Wii U and Switch games, MK8 has now sold a staggering 51.81 million copies. This milestone also means MK8 is now the seventh best-selling game of all time behind Super Mario Bros, PUBG, Wii sports, Tetris, GTA V, and Minecraft.   

This wasn’t Nintendo’s only cause for celebration. According to the same report, the Nintendo Switch sold 18.95 million units from April to December. This brings the system’s total sales up to 103.5 million units, surpassing the Wii’s 101.63 million units.

As a result, the Switch is now Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all time. It’s also now the fifth best-selling console of all time behind the PlayStation 4, Game Boy/Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS family, and PlayStation 2.

What about Mario Kart 9?

With this latest sales milestone, there’s not much incentive for Nintendo to release a new Mario Kart game. However, rumours suggest MK9 is in active development and will have a "new twist".

That twist is expected to be an all-star cast of characters from other Nintendo franchises such as Animal Crossing, F-Zero, and Zelda. Nintendo hasn’t made any official announcements about MK9 yet, so we’ll have to wait and see.