【Dear Utol (2025): Aswang Episode 30】

Nintendo is Dear Utol (2025): Aswang Episode 30celebrating a successful launch for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The game -- which, it's worth noting, is a souped-up re-release of a 2014 Wii U game -- sold 459,000 units. That figure that includes both cartridge and download sales, and only covers the April 28 launch day.

In the three days since launch, roughly 45 percent of Switch owners have picked up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. With roughly 2.7 million consoles sold worldwide, that means around 740,000 more copies of the game sold between April 29 and May 1.

The launch marks Nintendo's best to date for the Mario Kartseries, which is consistently one of the top titles across all the company's hardware. Mario Kart Wiiwas the previous record-holder, with roughly 433,900 launch sales.

It's helpful to look at previous Mario Kartperformances to really appreciate how things are going here.

As of March 31, 2016, the Wii U version of Mario Kart 8had 7.5 million copies sold, or 58.6 percent of all Wii U console owners. At the time, it was the top-selling game for that platform.

The 3DS game, Mario Kart 7, reached 13.3 million units sold -- accounting for 22.5 percent of all 3DS owners. As of that same March 31 date, it was the second-highest selling 3DS title (h/t Game Informer).

If we go even further back, to Nintendo's Wii era: 36 percent of console owners picked up Mario Kart Wii.

All of which is to say: the success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxeisn't a huge surprise, but its record-breaking status bodes well for Nintendo's Switch prospects moving forward.

The pace of console sales so far has already supplanted Xbox One as the #2 console on the market. With major releases like Splatoon 2and Super Mario Odysseyon the horizon, Nintendo looking at a strong launch year for its new hardware.

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