Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sells 459,000 copies in the US on launch day, fastest-selling Mario Kart game

In its first day on the market, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold over 459,000 copies in the U.S., Nintendo announced today.

[C-H-E-F]

Big ups, however compared to other 1st party games, you'd think Mario Kart would've sold a million easily. I mean it's Mario Kart, but then again not many of us have a Switch to support that title either. I still haven't picked up my switch yet. I barely have enough time for my PS4 Pro / Vita

[Eldyraen]

I'm still playing zelda, but bought Mk8D digitally (Zelda is only physical Switch game i own ATM) and played it some. I'm enjoying it as an older fan and not a recent Nintendo owner (GC was my last).

I'm not a huge racing fan but battle modes are always fun to me.

[Neonridr]

how many 1st party games from Sony or MS sell a million copies in one day in a single territory?

[Wallstreet37]

Just to appease your curiosity uc3 sold 3.8 million in one day on launch (of course higher install) but I'm assuming being u.s. is it's biggest consumer base it was probably around 1 million in u.s. or close to it alone. The Last of us remastered sold 1.5 million day one globally (not just one territory but only included retail) but was also sold on a system with not huge audience group at the time. There are others.

Great sales on a new system but other games have done the same on other systems. Mario Kart Is well known and not much to pick from on Switch so yeah it's going to get good sales (I purchased it too). And let me be clear even with other games as competition it would have sold great too.

But I agree Mario is an instant money maker for Nintendo and between this and Zelda great great sales and I'm. Happy. Amazon just dropped my copy and cant wait to get home to play it :)

[thisismyaccount]

How many of those Sony IPs and to some extent MS are regurgitated/recycled franchises from the 80´s?

Wonder what´s going on as of late, especially over at neogaf everyone is a bit "switcheridoo"

"i wanna play dis on ma switch"
"i wanna play MMORPGs on ma switch"
"i wanna have Persona 5 on ma switch"

/shrugs 100%+ Zelda attachment rate ... no Zelda, no Switch for 2.5mill. people out there. One thing is the "love" for a device, the other thing is "going nuts" ;P

We shit on MS for releasing only Halo, Gear or Forza title... holy moly Nintendo is doing the same since the 1980s and no one gives a wet fart. /shrug

[XanderZane]

There have been a few on both platforms. At least last gen there were. Not to many this generation though.

[Uken12]

@thisismyaccount

Yes! Because we all know since the 80's, Mario is the same game! Same with Zelda!

They are usually excellent games and are quite different from one another. Stop being Butthurt. Halo used to be good but they changed it for the worse.

It's like complaining about how Marvel uses Wolverine too much. And DC always makes Batman movies.

[_-EDMIX-_]

? Quite a few.

Why did you bring Sony or MS into this? lol

Relax bud.

All 3 first party companies have many IPs that move more then 1 million in a single day.

[Neonridr]

@EDMIX - and I would love to hear your thoughts on which ones exactly. 1 million in a single day is nothing. But in a single region? That's tough to do.

[C-H-E-F]

@Neonridr and all of you downvoters.

They both have 1 1st party title more than Nintendo hitting a million apparently... Then, by me just saying the obvious U3 and Halo, you will then turn and say OH WHATEVER THAT'S JUST ONE, the point i'm making is this is mario kart. It only getting 459k in US is pretty disgraceful, like how can you let two new IPs (newer than Mario Kart, and less broad than Mario Kart) beat a game in sales that's been around since all of our childhoods, that is boundless in terms of demographics (it's literally a game for everyone, every age). Yall are just big mad cause the sales are indeed pathetic for a game of Mario Karts statute. That game should have 100% attachment rate atleast not zelda if anything.

[Neonridr]

@C-H-E-F - first off, if 2.75 million Switches have been sold worldwide, how many do you think were in the US alone? I am willing to wager that 500K sales in the US is an attachment rate of like 50%+ easily.

You talk Uncharted 3. A game that came out in 2011 when the PS3 install base was like 50+ million. And even then it did 3.8 million GLOBALLY in one day. But how much in the US? And that attachment rate is terrible by the way.

[The 10th Rider]

This is US only and day one only. I picked it up wit ha prime discount after selling my Wii U copy, but I didn't order it until this past Sunday.

[RosweeSon]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/r...

Doing well here in the U.K as well 😉🕹

[Mr Marvel]

1. Console only just released.
2. US Only.
3. Day 1 sales only.
4. You seriously expect a million sales when you take 1-3 into account?

[ZeekQuattro]

All the good news Nintendo has been getting the past few weeks is clearly getting to some people. I mean why else continue to make idiotic remakes and try to downplay all things Nintendo over and over again? lol

[Erik7357]

Compared to the user base, it sold a huge massive amount.

Expect sales for Zelda Breath of Wild and Mario kart 8 Deluxe to continue being stronger in sales compared to other games after launch due to the growing new sprouting user base that is the Switch.

[AZRoboto]

It sold more in one day in the US on a system that's been out for less than two months, compared the Wii release that came out 18 months after that system did.

I know it's Monday but jeeze, not everything has to be a darn negative.

[roadkillers]

Dude that's day 1, name one other game that had a solid 45% attach rate to the console in 1 day bro. You lost.

[The 10th Rider]

Well, Breath of the Wild had an amazing day one attach rate, lol.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Edit: misread article. Wish I could delete.

[conanlifts]

It probably did sell a million. The 459000 are day 1 sales in the US only.

[roadkillers]

VGChartz forums is predicting somewhere in the realm of 452,000 in Japan day 1. This is based off their COMG charts and can differ a bit.

[_-EDMIX-_]

Well...not really. Its also a port of a Mario Kart games that moved like 8 million units.

Those that played it on Wii U likely own a Switch and might have very little reason to buy it again. The most hardcore own the Wii U and likely also own the Switch at launch.

Neither of my friends that own a Switch that owned a Wii U are buying Mario Kart 8, but simply because they own it on Wii U.

This isn't Mario Kart 9 or anything like that.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

"...might have very little reason to buy it again."

You underestimate the appeal of a proper battle mode.

[Razzer]

Well deserved. It is a great game. Played a ton of split-screen races with my son's this past weekend. So much fun.

[FinalomegaS]

guess 3 people don't think it deserved it and it's not a great game haha

I for one am glad people still enjoy split screen....

don't know if the golden eye days will ever come back.

[Razzer]

3 people who haven't played it then. lol

Yeah... split-screen is great. Same room interaction vs yapping over headset? Yeah....I'll take half a screen any day.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Well deserved

[The 10th Rider]

So Mario Kart 8 Deluxe seems to be outpacing Mario Kart Wii (one of the top selling games of all-time) and Breath of the Wild is selling almost twice as fast as Twilight Princess did back in 2006. Coming up the rest of the year Nintendo has the sequel to one of their most successful IPs (Splatoon 2) and the next 3D Mario game (Super Mario Odyssey). It's safe to say the Switch is looking to be a success. It will be interesting to see how Arms does, because if it catches on like Splatoon did then in it's first year the Switch may have 5 of the 7 top selling exclusives on current consoles. And there's still people out there saying the Switch will be a flop, lol.

[CocoaBrother]

I got to try out Arms and it was pretty fun. I'm jnot great at motion control games so I couldn't fully appreciate it but the crowd loved it so I'm hoping the standard controller works well.

If Nintendo can release a Pokémon this fall too(be it the rumored Stars or Diamond/Pearl remake), they'll see way more success. Announcing Animal Crossing and/or Monster Hunter for next year will help tremendously in Japan and even in the states.

[The 10th Rider]

Yeah, most previews of the game have been pretty surprisingly positive. To be completely honest I wasn't interested when they first showed it, but the same was true of Splatoon and that ended up being a total blast. I'm still a bit cautious and would be surprised if it hit Splatoon levels of success, but I still think it's going be received well and sell plenty.

[MrMagz]

Luckily AMRS is confirmed to have regular button controls as well as the motion. I'm not too big into motion control gaming either, but being able to play with actual buttons means I might actually try it out.

[davand114]

When you played arms did you get a powerstone type of feel from it? The videos of the gameplay remind me of powerstone.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

Other than Pokemon that's all of Nintendo's heavy hitters in the first year.

[The 10th Rider]

Animal Crossing? Donkey Kong Country? Smash Bros? A 2D Mario (Mario Maker 2 maybe)? All of those have historically preformed well.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

The last Donkey Kong game did 1.62 mil. What I was saying is that majority of people know Nintendo for Pokemon, Mario and Zelda.

[The 10th Rider]

@Xx_Pistol_xX,

The last Donkey Kong Country game was the worst selling in the series, by far, and was also on a console with a comparatively minuscule install base. If they released one for Switch it wouldn't be shocking for it to sell more than 3 million.

[Prince_TFK]

We still have Mario, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, and E3.

And if you say no one knows Fire Emblem, try reading article about that game on iOS.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@10th- you mean the same IPs that failed to move Wii U past 14 million?

Those games performing well don't really mean the system will

They need much more then just the same old same old to fix their situation. That is like saying if Activision is in trouble, the answer is more Call Of Duty lol

[RosweeSon]

That you know about. Wait until Next months E3 timed Direct.

[Kaneki-Ken]

I would like a new Main Pokemon game, New Metroid(not that fake version federation), Twilight Princess HD on the switch. Only with those games, I would play the Switch to death.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"So Mario Kart 8 Deluxe seems to be outpacing Mario Kart Wii (one of the top selling games of all-time)"

yea no.

Mario Kart on Wii moved like 30 plus million units.

I don't see Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doing that especially being a port of a Wii U game

" It's safe to say the Switch is looking to be a success" LMFAO! Please...stop jumping the gun.

You could have stated this about Wii U when it moved like 3 million around its launch.

Give it time. At least be that fair and realistic as suppose to exaggerating.

The next big sellers for them is likely going to be Splatoon 2 and Mario Odyssey

I don't see Arms doing jack for them.

"And there's still people out there saying the Switch will be a flop"

Well we don't know what will happen in the next few years. For all we know Nintendo makes another handheld and support for Switch starts getting lost and its sales suffer, we don't really know to really say "flop" or "success".

Not this early bud.

[C_Ali88]

I still smell fear emanating from you. It's a success, given it's selling without the promise of Pokemon, MH, Metroid, Animal Crossing, Pikmin, etc.

Come on give credit where credit is due, you seem to be going out of your way to refute things just to be contrarian..

"So Mario Kart 8 Deluxe seems to be outpacing Mario Kart Wii (one of the top selling games of all-time)"

Yes, in fact it does SEEM to be outpacing MkWii, but looks can be deceiving it won't hit 10M.

"It's safe to say the Switch is looking to be a success" "LMFAO! Please...stop jumping the gun."

It's a success for reasons listed above AND for the fact that it is selling out. How long will it be successful remains to be seen.

"The next big sellers for them is likely going to be Splatoon 2 and Mario Odyssey "

"I don't see Arms doing jack for them."

You are consistently and unapologetically wrong most of the time I don't doubt this is another of those instances.

I would say they next few years are relevant to it's longevity but to deny its popularity and success to ponder and question future unknowns is pretty illogical. The foundation is currently strong now lets see how/if Nintendo builds on that.

[RosweeSon]

Smash Bros before Christmas 🤞🏻😉

[Mister_Wolf]

Really glad that Nintendo is seeing success for a home console again. Well done.

I am glad there are three home consoles competing, especially as Nintendo's contributions always seem to compliment MS's and Sony's really well.

[Fist4achin]

Yes, I haven't picked up a switch and I'm still on the fence about it, but I do wish Nintendo to do well. If they bring more games of my interest, then I'm in.

It would be a shame to see one of these three console makers to go down. Competition is always a good thing.

[Mister_Wolf]

I am just waiting for abit of a price drop. I will likely get it next year some time. I am intrigued by games like Arms, Splatoon 2, and Mario though. Moreover, that portability thing is huge.

[C_Ali88]

@Mister_Wolf

If the Wii U is any indication they will let the Switch sink before dropping its price if it isn't INSANELY popular.

And 1 year in is hoping..... HARD.

[Mr Marvel]

It's easily the best Mario Kart, therefore it deserves the best sales.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

The key to PlayStations success is their relationships with devs from first to third party. There is a reason why Kojima leaves Konami and goes straight to PS. There is a reason why Insomniac went back to Sony after making Sunset Overdrive. There is a reason why Quantic Dream while not being acquired by Sony still makes games for them exclusively.

[The 10th Rider]

What you said has nothing to do with the article...

[CocoaBrother]

Sony and PlayStation have nothing to do with this article or topic.

[Eldyraen]

Sony basically seems to give them free rein and near limitless time constraints (Last Guardian for example). It seems to pay off a lot too as even most of the "duds" end up being pretty good or get a sequel to see if it pays off later (Knack 2 for example--I enjoyed the original but pretty easy to see why some wouldn't, Kameo still needs that kind of treatment from MS imo).

Huge games are great but sometimes you need something a little more niche to entice others to try it out. Ori was a smart move imo from MS (great 2D game) but they don't seem to have that kind of mentality for bigger games this gen (360 had some decent ones, even from third parties and some pretty cool jrpg exclusives too until they just stopped supporting them).

Love or hate Sony, they're willing to take risks every time. I feel part of Scalebound's issues might had been MS being too hands on and not open enough as it looked great to me.

[_-EDMIX-_]

While I don't disagree with you, I'm not sure why this is here of all places lol

[Eldyraen]

Just replying to a comment, lol. It's how things work so just reply to things that peak my attention even if off topic of original post.

[C_Ali88]

huh? This article has to do with MK8D selling gangbusters.....Wait until Japan's numbers come in.

[C_Ali88]

I like dogs and Planets with water....

[Razzer]

And I say Pluto is still a planet.

[deafdani]

Don't be silly, Pluto is a dog.

[Razzer]

Pluto is a dog? Dogs are not planets.

But that means.... gasp....Pluto is not a planet.

Damn you.

[corroios]

Well deserved? Only Nintendo can repacked a old game sell it a full price.

[CocoaBrother]

Right on time. Can't have a positive Nintendo article without you, Foxtrot, or EDMIX attacking Nintendo.

[The 10th Rider]

Hey man, don't lump Foxtrot in with the likes of EDMIX. Foxtrot may be cynical, but he can have some well thought out replies and valuable insight. He also tends to be equally cynical on all three console makers (which earns him a lot of hate). A lot of EDMIX's comments are like essays someone wrote while they were drunk. According to him Breath of the Wild's sales are "on or around what [he] claimed it might be" despite the fact that he claimed it would sell worse than Twilight Princess and it's currently selling nearly twice as well.

[corroios]

Telling the truth. And not saying amazing a old game bei ing sold like a new one , where the casuals gamers dont know that at full price that is exactly the same on the wiiu with a bump on the rez.

Nintendo makes billions without any effort. But ok, its really amazing.

[Neonridr]

@corroios - and by exactly the same you mean the Wii U game with all included DLC, some new characters, additional gameplay mechanics, along with an entirely new battle mode. Coupled with the increase in resolution (like you mentioned).

I can see how one would think it would be exactly the same game /s

[_-EDMIX-_]

Ok...

This is my first post regarding this.

"Crim- "What would mario Kart 9 be that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe isn't?
People just want to play Mario Kart."

Well we can say the same thing about Mario Kart Wii

I think they have a lot of great things planned for Mario Kart 9 and I think it will sell better upon release.

Mario Kart 8 is still a port from Wii U, Mario Kart 9 should move BEASTLY numbers.

I'm sure Nintendo has something planned already"

Soooooo stop actually assuming everything criticized about this company is simply to "attack" it.

@10th- " A lot of EDMIX's comments are like essays someone wrote while they were drunk. According to him Breath of the Wild's sales are "on or around what [he] claimed it might be"

???

Why are you bringing up other post on here? Buddy, get over it. You can't keep having these emotional vendettas on users simply because the disagree with you.

That would be like me replying like "A lot of 10th Riders comments are like" or "he claimed it would sell" etc.

Buddy...move on. Its legit not that serious lol

You snowflakes got so emotional over this, the fact that you even still reference that speaks GREAT volumes. You are seriously in tears because of that post that your still talking about it? LMFAO!

Too immature bud. Relax with the OT personal, emotional post. We might have different views, but keep it on topic vs derailing ever thread to cry about users LOL! It only shows just how emotional you are about what people post on here.

[C_Ali88]

No, Sony is quite adept at it too, actually any developer/publisher worth anything does....LOL

[Athos]

And only Sony can come out with a racing demo and charge people for it. As far as remasters or repackaged games, again you may wish to take a look at Sony. Hypocrisy at its finest.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Must be blind if you can't see that so many developers do this. At least Nintendo added a little more content whereas a majority will add nothing new and slap the full price on it.

[davand114]

Didn't sony do the same thing with the last of us?

[The 10th Rider]

Not exactly the same. The Last of Us on PS4 included the $10 DLC and retailed for $50. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes the $12 DLC and a full battle mode and retails for $60. I believe The Last of Us on PS3 was available for a bit cheaper ($30-ish?) back when the remaster released compared to the price of Mario Kart 8 on Wii U now ($50). They're fairly close in terms of value. I'd say Mario Kart is a bit better of a deal because you're getting actual new content.

[Prince_TFK]

Yeah and The Last of Us, Uncharted Collection, GTA V...didnt do that.

Smh.

[OtakuDJK1NG-Rory]

The Last of Us remaster
God of War III remaster
GTA 5
...............

[C_Ali88]

@_-EDMIX-_

He's bringing up how wrong you can be, but you wouldn't understand how that is fundamental in establishing a foot hold in the refutation of your biased opinions.

"Horizon would sell better than Zelda"

Initially, yes I agree but the race isn't won "off the jump" as they say. Zelda is still selling at a healthy clip and looks to overtake HZD worldwide numbers before the year is out.

"I think they have a lot of great things planned for Mario Kart 9 and I think it will sell better upon release.
Mario Kart 8 is still a port from Wii U, Mario Kart 9 should move BEASTLY numbers. "

I whole heartedly agree but your bias shows when you won't even acknowledge putting millions of dollars into development for an install base of 3 million WW. That's insane, You can't move BEASTLY NUMBERS with relatively no consoles in consumers hands!! You need to understand supply and demand before you argue what a company should do based on faulty logic. To get a return on a game that cost millions to develop you would literally have to sell a copy to EVERY current Switch owner and then some. That is not feasible, economically you spend hundreds of thousands to make millions with MK8DX all while appeasing those who crave the series.

Same reason why Zelda came out on Switch, to get a return for 4 years of development which was reportedly Nintendo's biggest game (financially) EVER you need the longevity that the Switch provides as the Wii U is a financial dead end. It's (Wii U) Zelda sales will continue for a few months and get a bump when the DLC arrives but the Switch BOTW will sell for YEARS to come.

Fire Emblem,MK9, SSBSwitch, Mario Odyssey, Pokemon, Exclusive Zelda won't come until the install base is above 10 million WW.

Understand the economics of making money and you might understand why the Switch's first year is as it is.

[Zikax]

Glad to see nintendo running the game again...

[gangsta_red]

Nice, I haven't played the last one but I am glad to see Battle Mode return.

Would like to see Nintendo bring a lot more characters and more Nintendo themed maps to the Mario Kart series.

[Cartman55125]

The fact that there aren't many games out for the Switch probably helped. Great game, nonetheless.

[DeadManMMX]

What we're learning here is the secret is to launch a console with only 1 real game. Then a month or two later release another game and your starving consumer base will gobble it up. Nintendo Strategy supply and demand since 1984 wooo!

[Loadedklip]

since 1996 you mean when they lost third party support with the N64.
Before that .... they had the third party support Sony now enjoys.

It's not like Sony or Microsoft THEMSELVES publishes far more games than Nintendo does.

The difference is simply the third party games.

[LordofYogurt]

I just bought it! I played for hours split screen online with my cousin! The game is so good!!!!

I never got it on Wii U because I became disenchanted with the console, but now I'm so happy 😁

[PlayableGamez-]

SWitch owners thirsty for new old games.

[Last_Boss]

Ill come back to this, when I get a damn break in buying games atm.

[Spikeantestor]

People want to like this system. Nintendo has made a bunch of great decisions and people are ready to reward them.

[C_Ali88]

Only those who don't like it are those who want to hate it.....LOL

[81BX]

Love kart

[DrumBeat]

Congrats. Mario Kart is a blast no matter what age you are. Battle Mode is ridiculously fun. This has been the way with all Mario Karts.

[V0LT]

Lol... I see some negative comments towards Nintendo and all I can think of is CoD rehashes that you fools don't mind paying for over and over.

[C_Ali88]

Year in and year out, COD, AC, FIFA, MADDEN....Clockwork baby!

[stuna1]

Congrats Nintendo you're going to make a believer out of me yet.

[Auron]

Aint really hard to do when you have no games for your console except zelda.... by the way i bought MK8D on friday too my only other game is zelda. Thinking about getting puyo and ordered i am setsuna physical.

[PhoenixUp]

Nintendo should release more GOTY editions of their games

[SoulWarrior]

Fully deserved, I've played plenty of Kart racers before but this is by far the best.

[prankster101]

The Switch owner's thirst is real...

[InTheZoneAC]

how much did it sell on the wii u?

[Gemmol]

8 mill life time

but first day in america is less than switch version

[Snk91]

All this is telling Nintendo is they don't need to give Mario Kart 9 for a long long time, if this generation at all. Good job..

[LexHazard79]

Whoa!!

[Supernintendo85]

I'm sorry, but being on edge about purchasing the system at all, actually purchasing it and experiencing playing it on your tv and being able to bring that experience anywhere is truly rewarding. Say what you want. I don't care what games are remade, how many times I've wanted to continue playing a game when I had to leave the house. Truly awesome.

[PaulKersey]

It helps when the only other game worth owning on the Switch was released almost 2 months ago.

[Bjorn-c-blocker]

So it sold more in a day than Horizon sold in a month.. that has gotta sting.

[Lime123]

What do you mean? Horizon in opening NPD sold over 1 million copies (including digital).

[markbrown]

Good move, expected results and well-deserved!

[chris235]

that's not much, given the population of north america. what were the sales figures in japan? so basically half a million users in north america have kept their switch after beating zelda.

[onethousandmillions]

Correct me if I'm wrong: You can't carry 2 items at once (one dragged behind and one on deck) in MK8. Kinda ruined the experience for me.
I NEVER see anyone comment on this. Can anyone clarify?

[onethousandmillions]

Why the thumbs-down? Am I a little off-topic?

[EddieNX]

you can on deluxe , you dont have to drag one you can hold 2

[ifrit_caress]

This is excellent news.

[DivineAssault]

Half a million basically.. Not bad and no its not just because Zelda is the only game for switch.. Its a great game to have for it until a proper sequel can be made.. Not many people bothered with the wii u & missed out on some great titles that are likely going to get a switch.. For FUN! Not for graphics.. FUN FACTOR

[Buxbomber]

I see a lot of people on here hating on Nintendo saying this is crap because it's a 3 year old game that is full price. You guys don't understand that this has all dlc as well as extra dlc that wasn't even offered in the original game what should thy have charged? I think the price is fine plus you have to understand Nintendo understands that most people didn't even get the Wii U Console and probably never even played this game when it released originally but it's fine I understand that no matter what Nintendo does there is always gonna be some internet trolls that complain about Nintendo.

[XStation4pio_Pro]

congrats. all the people that finished zelda needed something else to play.