Switch's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Sets New Franchise Sales Record In US

Following the success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is now off to a hot start in the US.

Combining digital and physical copies, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 459,000 copies on its launch day in the US last week, Nintendo announced today. The company claims that makes it the "fastest-selling game" in the franchise's history.

That record was previously held by Mario Kart Wii, which sold 433,900 units on launch day back in 2008, according to Nintendo.

A press release notes that the attach rate for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is 45 percent, which would mean US Switch sales are around 1.02 million units. The company says worldwide sales of the system have reached more than 2.7 million, and we learned today that it even made the costly move of shipping some consoles by air to meet demand.

The strong performance by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is particularly impressive considering it is merely an enhanced port of a Wii U game, rather than an original game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild remains the Switch's best-selling game to date. In the US alone, it sold 925,000 copies on Switch in March. During that same span worldwide, it sold 2.76 million units.