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Nintendo Switch players in China should now be able to play one of the greatest games on the platform. The only potential issue that has now been revealed is that China’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has restricted online play. Players in China will only be able to compete against other players within the region.
The official listing page for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (China) states that the game only does online multiplayer with other Chinese version users.
This means that Mario Kart 7, released 8 years ago in China, is the second and last Nintendo game in China offering global online. pic.twitter.com/OWEzJZWQmE— Chinese Nintendo (@chinesenintendo) March 16, 2020
Both Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey have launched today in China. However, additional details show that China’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn’t provide exactly the same experience as other versions around the world. The game will only allow online play between players in China, meaning that it’s also probably impossible for anyone outside of China to play against someone in China.
While this isn’t a huge blow to the game’s established community, it may well be for Chinese Nintendo Switch fans. This game is one of the most popular on Nintendo Switch, and now China is getting a compromised version of the game.
As the “Chinese Nintendo” Twitter account points out, Mario Kart 7 was the last game to allow Chinese players to compete with others around the globe, and it was released eight years ago. It’s possible that this type of online restriction will be a trend that extends to all online functionality for Chinese Nintendo Switch games.
