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Nintendo's ongoing post-launch support for Mario Kart 8 appears to have paid off, as the six-year-old racer continues to dominate the Nintendo Switch's sales chart.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

May 9, 2023

1 Min Read
Mario, Peach, and Bowser in the box art for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

During its recent fiscal report, Nintendo revealed that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best-selling Nintendo Switch game. As of March 31, 2023, the game has sold 53.79 million units. 

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe released over a month after the Switch's 2017 debut, and was a port of the 2014 Nintendo Wii U game. Fittingly, the original Mario Kart 8 ended up being the best-selling game on the Wii U, at 8.46 million units sold. 

Combined, both versions of Mario Kart 8 have sold 62.25 million units. It continues to be one of the best-selling games of all time, trailing behind the likes of Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, and Wii Sports 

Among the top 10 best-selling Switch titles include Animal Crossing: New Horizons at 42.21 million, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at 31.09 million. The Switch's marquis launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has sold 29.81 million.

Other Mario games are also included in that list, such as Super Mario Odyssey (25.76 million), Super Mario Party (19.14), and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (15.41 million). 

During the first quarter for this fiscal year, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 8.45 million units. The game was already the Switch's best-selling title back in 2021, but a recent release of DLC tracks and characters has further helped boost its lifecycle. 

Even with a decline of 9 percent compared to the previous year, sales of first-party software reached the third-highest levels in the Switch's lifetime. "Solid" performances of catalog titles like Deluxe or Breath of the Wild were commended alongside newer releases like Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and Splatoon 3

About the Author(s)

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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