As the days roll by and we finally come into March, we wait impatiently for the expansion pack to release for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as announced in the latest Nintendo Direct held on the 9th of February 2022.
Even though we have covered the Nintendo Direct in detail (You can read it here if you want), fans of the game were surprised that a new Mario Kart wasn’t announced instead. Some were happy to see 8 Deluxe remain and added on to however, most were a tad bit disappointed that Nintendo didn’t inject new life into the franchise by announcing a new game.
The expansion comes on Nintendo’s online service called the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion pack and can be played on it for free if you have paid for the subscription that came out last year. Fans have debated all these technicalities since the news broke out, but our question is, wouldn’t it have been better if a new game had come out? Or is the expansion a great way to expand the life of one of the most famous Nintendo Switch games right now? A game that has sold 43.35 million copies till date.
Could the company be waiting to drop the new Mario Kart edition only when it upgrades the Nintendo Switch hardware? Or is it just a way to increase the number of subscriptions to their online service, which hasn’t been the best?
Either way, it leaves us wondering what the future of Mario Kart and the Nintendo Switch looks like considering the 48-track DLC drop has been confirmed to last till 2023. Will the Switch also not get an update till then? Seems unlikely.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer the expansion pack and Nintendo’s online service, or would you rather have had a new Mario Kart game?