Mario Kart 8 DLC could signify a longer wait for Nintendo Switch 2

Mario Kart fans got some welcome news yesterday in the form of fresh downloadable content. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting 48 new tracks all based on courses from previous entries in the series. This is the first batch of new content for the game since it hit the Switch in 2017. But not all 48 courses are coming out at once. Instead, Nintendo plans to roll them out in six waves comprised of eight courses each. These waves will begin hitting Switch in March and continue through the end of 2023. And that timing is key because it’s probably the earliest that fans could expect to see a full successor to the Switch.

The dreams — or maybe they were hallucinations — of the Switch Pro are dead. Nintendo is almost certainly instead looking to launch a follow-up to the Switch — although that will likely be hardware that maintains the formfactor and momentum of what is now Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all time.