Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is perhaps the epitome of Nintendo’s “evergreens” strategy, where games they release in their franchises end up selling persistently for years, driving hardware sales along the way to boot. Therefore, it should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ended up selling more in 2018 than it did in 2017—at the very least in the UK.
This information comes to us courtesy of GamesIndustry’s Christopher Dring, who noted the fact on his Twitter account. Given that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been the most omnipresent Switch exclusive on the UK software charts through 2018—more than any other Switch game, more than even Super Mario Odyssey or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—this information should come as a surprise to no one.
Nonetheless, it is, as I mentioned previously, a vindication of Nintendo’s evergreen strategy, and demonstrates why their games feed their hardware, and their hardware feeds their games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available now, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
As a tease, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold more copies in 2018 than it did in 2017
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 2, 2019
