Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Gets a Free Switch 2 Update With Eight-Player Split-Screen, Sharper Visuals and Faster Loading

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is nine years old, has already had a full sequel on Switch 2, and still just received one of the most meaningful updates in its long life. Nintendo released version 4.0.0 on September 1, and it is free for everyone who owns the game. There is no upgrade pack to buy and no separate Switch 2 Edition to track down. You download the patch, and the game quietly becomes a much better fit for the new console.

The headline feature is the one people have been asking about since the Switch 2 was revealed: eight-player split-screen on a single system. The original Switch capped local play at four, and that limit is now gone on Switch 2. Alongside it come sharper visuals for the Switch 2 display and high-resolution TVs, shorter loading before races and battles, and support for the CameraPlay feature that puts your friends' faces on screen.

What the Switch 2 side of the update actually does

The eight-player mode has one practical catch worth knowing before you invite everyone over. Nintendo's patch notes explain that you can connect up to seven original Switch controllers, meaning old Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controllers, to a Switch 2 system. To fill the eighth seat you need at least one Joy-Con 2 controller or a Switch 2 Pro Controller in the mix. In practice that means a Switch 2 with its bundled Joy-Con 2 plus a pile of old Switch controllers gets you to eight without buying anything new. Given how many households already own a stack of Joy-Con from the last generation, this is a genuinely accessible feature rather than a showcase for expensive accessories.

CameraPlay is the other Switch 2 exclusive addition, and it works in local and online play with friends for two to four players. It needs a compatible USB camera, which Nintendo sells separately for $54.99, although any compatible USB camera will do. Online play with GameChat still requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership, as usual. The resolution bump and faster loading need nothing at all beyond the patch, and they are probably the changes most owners will notice first. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe already ran cleanly on Switch 2 through backward compatibility, but until now it was being displayed at its original Switch resolution.

Small tweaks for every Switch owner

The update is not only about the new hardware. Three general changes apply no matter which console you play on. Player speed during races has been increased by the equivalent of one coin, which is a subtle acceleration of the whole pack that veterans will feel more than newcomers. Boo, the item that turns you invisible and steals from rivals, no longer slows you down when you drift into offroad terrain while invisible. And anyone who bought the Booster Course Pass gains a new 96 Races option in the VS Race rule settings, a marathon setting that runs the complete track list, all 48 original courses plus the 48 added by the pass, in one sitting.

We find the timing interesting. Nintendo launched Mario Kart World alongside the Switch 2 and could easily have left the older game as it was. Instead it is treating Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a living product on the new console, which makes sense when you remember it is the best-selling game on the original Switch by a wide margin and the one most families already own. It also lands in the same month Nintendo is closing the doors on Mario Kart Tour, so the franchise is consolidating around the console games rather than spreading out.

If you own the game, the update should download automatically the next time your console goes online, or you can trigger it from the software's options menu on the home screen. Then the only real problem is finding seven friends and enough space on the couch.