Multiplayer games are great, and they offer a unique experience every time one plays them. However, this main advantage is also their biggest downfall – if an online game starts to lose its players, it becomes less fun for those who stick around, which at the same time makes it more difficult to attract new players. It’s a vicious cycle, and many games have fallen victim to it – and the reality is that it really only has to happen once for the entire game to go downhill afterwards. In the case of “Mario Kart 8” though, there still seems to be some hope – after the recent release of new DLC for the game, player numbers are picking back up.
The most recently released DLC saw the addition of content from “Legend of Zelda”, including the protagonist of the game, Link, along with a custom motorcycle made especially for him. The DLC also adds a new track, themed after the world of the Zelda games.
This wasn’t the only new content added in the DLC, as the game also saw additions from other popular games by Nintendo, like “F-Zero” as well as “Mario 3D”. Players can now play as Tanooki Mario, among other skins.
And so far, the DLC seems to be doing a good job at reviving interest in the game. Reports indicate that not only are old players coming back, but new ones are joining the fun as well, attracted by the marketing around the DLC release. It’s not known if Nintendo intended for the DLC to have such a strong effect on the game’s player base, but it’s certainly good to see that “Mario Kart 8” is far from dead yet, and the game still has a lot of potential for entertaining its fans.
Nintendo seem to still have a few tricks up their sleeve, so even if player numbers start going down again in a few weeks, it’s rumored that the company might release another DLC package to fix the situation. At this point, there is no information on what that package could contain, however, or when fans could expect to see it. Reports state that its release would be directly correlated to the success of the game in its current state, so if player numbers remain stable, the new content might not hit the market too soon.
It’s a strange marketing strategy, but of course it’s also still a rumor – but it would coincide with the way other companies have released DLC for their games before. Nintendo should certainly be careful if they decide to go down that path, however, as the discovery that content has been held back for months usually leads to serious backlash from gaming communities.