Nintendo released a free Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update on September 2 that raises local split-screen play to eight players on Nintendo Switch 2. Version 4.0.0 is available to all Switch owners, Video Games Chronicle reported, but most of what it contains applies only on Switch 2.
The headline change lifts single-display local play from one to four players on Switch to five to eight players on Switch 2, which makes an eight-player split-screen race possible. IGN described the result as eight portrait-style windows, and GameSpot reported that the mode also works in handheld mode on Switch 2.
Filling those eight slots takes some planning. Original Switch controllers, including Joy-Cons and Pro Controllers, still work, but only seven last-gen controllers can connect to a Switch 2, so an eight-player race requires at least one Switch 2 Pro Controller or Joy-Con 2.
The rest of Version 4.0.0 covers:
- CameraPlay support on Switch 2, using the Switch 2 camera or another compatible USB camera, in two-to-four-player local multiplayer and in Online Play; online camera use is restricted to friends in GameChat rather than random opponents.
- Higher resolution on Switch 2 and shorter loading times before races and battles.
- A player speed increase that also reaches original Switch players, which Video Games Chronicle reported as the equivalent of one coin.
- A 96 Races option in VS Race for Booster Course Pass owners, running all 96 courses in order as a single marathon.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe also gets a free update
The Mario Kart patch followed a free Pikmin 3 Deluxe update that Nintendo released on September 1, according to Video Games Chronicle. It improves the game's visuals, which Nintendo says are "optimized for the Nintendo Switch 2 display and high-resolution TVs for improved image quality," and adds GameShare support so that two players can play the competitive Bingo Battle mode on separate devices, either locally or online through GameChat.
Pikmin 3 Deluxe arrived on Switch in October 2020 as an enhanced port of the 2013 Wii U game Pikmin 3, bundling its DLC with a new prologue and epilogue. With this patch it becomes the 18th first-party Switch game to receive a free Switch 2 update, as distinct from the paid Switch 2 Edition re-releases. Most of those free updates have delivered higher resolution, higher frame rates or GameShare support; Video Games Chronicle noted that Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 and Game Builder Garage received mouse support instead, while Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom gained HDR support.