Mario Kart World is arguably the biggest game on Nintendo Switch 2 in terms of mainstream appeal – even if we all know Donkey Kong Bananza is the superior year one title. But incredibly, it hasn't even been the best-selling Mario Kart game in the US over the past few months, an honor that belongs to its venerable predecessor, Mario Kart 8.
As you'd expect, Mario Kart World was the best-selling Nintendo game (on any platform) for the month of June, when it launched alongside Switch 2, according to data from industry analyst group Circana shared by Mat Piscatella on Bluesky. There are two caveats to this data and all that follows: Circana only tracks the US market, and Nintendo does not share digital sales data, so all this information pertains specifically to the physical games market in the region.
Still, it's remarkable to see that in the July sales data, Mario Kart World dropped all the way down to number six on the Nintendo sales charts. The number one title was, of course, Donkey Kong Bananza, but the real eye-catcher is Mario Kart 8 at number four. Despite being 11 years old if you account for its original Wii U version, Mario Kart 8 has had a perennial spot on the Nintendo sales charts for ages, and apparently not even a whole new series entry can stop it.
Once more, Mario Kart 8 made the newly released August sales data, coming in at number seven. That's well above Mario Kart World, which didn't even make the top ten list. Why is the old game so completely outdoing its successor? Apparently you can thank the Switch 2 bundle which includes both the console and a copy of Mario Kart World for that.
"The bundle accounts for over 80% of Switch 2 hardware sales," Piscatella explains on Bluesky, "so the math from there kind of makes it impossible for standalone physical World sales to chart." The fact that Mario Kart 8 is still the best Mario Kart game of all time probably doesn't hurt, either.
Check out our full guide to the best Switch 2 games.
