Nintendo just did something genuinely surprising with a nine-year-old game: it doubled the local split-screen count in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from four players to eight. The free Version 4.0.0 update dropped without warning and lands exclusively on Switch 2, turning the best-selling kart racer into an even bigger couch-multiplayer machine. For anyone who cares about how Nintendo squeezes value out of evergreen hits — and why the Switch 2 upgrade path keeps looking smarter — this update is a small masterclass.
What the Version 4.0.0 Update Adds
The headline feature is eight-player local split-screen, up from the four-player ceiling that has held since the game launched on Wii U and carried into the Switch and Switch 2 eras. Reaching a full eight racers takes some hardware juggling: players can connect up to seven standard controllers — Joy-Con or Pro Controllers — but the setup needs at least one Joy-Con 2 or Switch 2 Pro Controller in the mix to hit the full count.
Beyond the player bump, the patch sharpens visuals when the console is docked to a high-resolution TV, trims loading times before races and battles, and adds support for Nintendo’s CameraPlay feature. Taken together, it’s less a routine maintenance patch and more a quiet Switch 2 remaster bolted onto a game most people assumed was finished years ago.
Why Nintendo Keeps Feeding an Evergreen
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the highest-selling console games ever made, and Nintendo treats it accordingly. Every time the company extends its feature set, it refreshes a title that still sells steadily and gives lapsed players a reason to boot it back up. That’s a shrewd, low-cost way to keep a proven earner relevant instead of spending big to replace it.
There’s also a hardware angle. Locking the marquee upgrade to Switch 2 turns a beloved back-catalogue game into a subtle sales pitch for the new console. If your friend group runs eight-player nights, the update quietly makes the case that everyone should be on Switch 2 — no new software purchase required.
A Technical Flex for the New Console
Eight-way split-screen is deceptively demanding. Rendering eight simultaneous viewports at a stable frame rate is exactly the kind of task that separates a generational leap from a modest refresh, and the fact that Nintendo is confident enough to ship it says plenty about the Switch 2’s headroom. It slots neatly alongside the platform’s growing library of enhanced and Switch 2-native experiences, reinforcing that this hardware has real muscle under the family-friendly exterior.
It’s a smart move all round: minimal development cost, maximum goodwill, and a living advertisement for the console. Nine years in, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still isn’t done — and that longevity is the whole point.