How many players can play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe split-screen now?

Up to eight players on a single Nintendo Switch 2 after update 4.0.0. Seven controllers connect normally, but the eighth player requires at least one Joy-Con 2 controller or a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller. On the original Switch the limit stays at four players.

Is the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4.0.0 update free?

Yes. Nintendo is distributing version 4.0.0 at no cost to anyone who owns the game. It downloads automatically when the console is connected to the internet, or you can start it manually from the game's icon on the HOME menu.

Does update 4.0.0 do anything on the original Nintendo Switch?

Yes, but only the general changes. Original Switch owners get the speed increase equivalent to one coin, the fix that stops Boo slowing you down offroad, and the 96 Races option in VS Race if they own the Booster Course Pass. The visual, loading, CameraPlay and eight-player features are Switch 2 only.

What changed with Boo in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe?

Players no longer slow down while invisible with Boo, even when driving through an offroad area such as dirt or grass. Before the update the offroad penalty still applied, so the item is now far more useful for cutting corners.

How big is the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4.0.0 download?

Nintendo has not published a patch size for version 4.0.0 in its official update notes. The download starts automatically over an internet connection, and the console will keep running the previous version until it completes.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Update 4.0.0 Adds 8-Player Racing

What the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update adds on Switch 2

Local multiplayer now scales from the old four-player ceiling to eight racers on one console. Nintendo lists it plainly as support for five to eight players in Multiplayer mode, and there is a hardware catch worth knowing before you invite seven people over.

Eight-player split-screen on one Switch 2, using Joy-Con, Joy-Con 2 or Pro Controllers.

Seven controllers connect normally. For the eighth player you need at least one Joy-Con 2 controller or a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller in the mix.

Clearer visuals, with support added for the Switch 2 display and high-resolution TVs.

Shorter loading before races and battles begin.

CameraPlay support through a compatible USB-C camera, which Nintendo sells separately, working in local multiplayer and online through GameChat.

Players have already confirmed the eight-player mode runs in docked play, which is the only sensible way to read eight windows anyway. Nintendo has not published a frame rate figure for the larger player counts, and the studio has said nothing about whether four-player split-screen gets a performance bump alongside it. Treat any number you see quoted for that as unconfirmed.

The changes that land on original Switch too

Three items sit under general changes in Nintendo's own notes rather than under the Switch 2 section, which is the tell that they apply wherever you play. Two of them alter how races actually feel.

Every racer is faster. Nintendo increased player speed during races by the equivalent of one coin — effectively raising the floor of your speed stat.
Boo no longer costs you offroad. Going invisible with Boo used to leave you slowing down on dirt and grass. It does not any more, which turns the item into a genuine shortcut tool.
96 Races is now available in VS Race rule settings, but only for players who own the Booster Course Pass.

The Boo change is the one lighting up player discussion, because it rewrites which shortcuts are viable on tracks where the offroad penalty was the whole reason a line stayed closed. The coin-equivalent speed bump is subtler and applies to the entire grid, so it shifts pace rather than the pecking order.

Do you need a Switch 2 to get anything from this

No, but the split is stark. On an original Switch you get the speed change, the Boo fix and — with the Booster Course Pass — the 96 Races option, and nothing else. On Switch 2 you get all of that plus the resolution work, the load times, CameraPlay and the jump to eight players.

It is the same pattern Nintendo has been running across its back catalogue: a free patch that leaves the base game intact on old hardware while adding the parts that only the newer console can support. Pikmin 3 Deluxe got the same treatment, and our breakdown of the Pikmin 3 Deluxe 1.2.0 Switch 2 update covers how GameShare fits into that. Mojang went a step further with the Minecraft Switch 2 closed beta and its doubled render distance.

There is no charge for any of it. The update installs the usual way — connect to the internet and it downloads on launch, or trigger it manually from the game's icon in the HOME menu. Nintendo has not published a patch size, and if the console is offline it will keep booting the older version until you connect.

What Nintendo has not said

The notes stop at the feature list. There is no word on new tracks, no mention of the Booster Course Pass returning, and nothing about Mario Kart World cross-play. Anything circulating on those points is speculation, not a Nintendo statement.

For the rest of the platform, our coverage of the Switch 2 price increase in the UK and the recent Nintendo Switch Online maintenance windows tracks what else has moved this season, and the Oblivion Remastered Switch 2 file size is a useful reference point for how large these ports run.