Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could get five new characters, and fans want Diddy Kong

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The smaller Kong is a popular choice

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 3 announcement Maple Treeway
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could be in for five more characters relatively soon.

As first reported by Kotaku earlier today on March 9, the Twitter user seen just below revealed that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe now has room for five brand new racers. Given we're in the midst of ongoing DLC tracks and racers for the Nintendo Switch game, it's not unreasonable to expect these five newcomers to arrive pretty soon.

Earlier this week, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just got a new update that added Birdo as a character. It's thanks to this update that the five free spaces for other characters are now in the game, provided you own the Booster Course Pass or are an active Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack member, that is.

As for who these five racers could be, fans have taken a good guess. One common line of thought on Twitter seems to be a few Kongs, including Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong, while others are saying Piranha Plant could join Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's roster, given how the character was a post-launch add-on for Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

Some players also want Samus added to the racing game. This pick would actually make a lot of sense, given that Metroid Prime Remastered finally launched last month to widespread acclaim by fans and critics alike, giving another little publicity boost for the bounty hunter. 

We could be in for a little bit of a wait for these five new characters, unfortunately. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's DLC offerings tend to have multiple months between them, with the last update prior to Birdo's debut arriving last year in December 2022. We could be staring at these five painfully blank spaces for a good few months yet.

Someone's also gone and created a Mario Kart 400cc mod, in case you were tired of living comfortably on the track.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.