Nintendo heard us. Our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe parties weren’t simultaneously ruining enough friendships, so the evergreen racer can now be played in split-screen with up to eight players thanks to a surprise Switch 2 update.
Nintendo last night added Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the list of games that now enjoy free Switch 2 updates. The surprise patch includes improved image quality and faster loading times when playing Mario Kart 8 on Switch 2 consoles, alongside support for GameShare and CameraPlay – meaning you can watch your soon-to-be ex-friends shout expletives as you spam them with red shells, as long as you’re playing with two-to-four players.
But the headlining feature is easily the ability to play with up to eight people on the same console. Before this week, Mario Kart 8 only supported four players locally, but that limit can now be doubled. You just need to be playing on a Switch 2 and have at least one Joy-Con 2 or Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller connected. I’m not sure how legible Mario Kart 8 might be when the TV’s sliced eight ways, but a little more chaos can’t hurt, right?
A few more minor changes are also buried at the bottom of Nintendo’s patch notes. Booster Course Pass owners now have a ’96 Races’ option when creating custom VS matches, you’ll no longer be slowed down when Boo goes off to steal an enemy’s item, and all racers now go a little faster “by the equivalent of one coin.”
Even outside of its seemingly immortal kart racer, the Big N’s been unusually busy with free updates this week. Pikmin 3 Deluxe was also treated to a free Switch 2 update just a few days ago, bringing very similar graphical improvements to the game. Meanwhile, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate cleaned up its online battles in a small patch that was pushed out earlier today. No Switch 2 update for the crossover brawler, though. At least, not yet.