Topic: Mario Kart Deluxe 8 - Online Friends help

Hi everyone.

I got my children the Nintendo Switch OLED for Christmas. We have the Mario Kart game and want them to be able to play with the friends and family via the online mode.

However, despite the Nintendo Menu stating they have friends online playing Mario Kart...on Mario Kart itself the friends list is empty. We have restarted, updated all software. Triple checked their friends are online and playing the same game - the list comes up empty.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. We are (not sure if separate issue or related), also having issues with Minecraft of the same ilk, except that game states my son can not add friends due to parental restrictions, but after 3 live chats with xbox going over the restrictions so they are lifted, restarting and signing in and out and in again, nothing helps.

Thanks in advance

Do you have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership?
You need that in order to play Nintendo games online.

Hi, yes all signed up and paid for.

Are they definitely all playing the online mode? If their Switch is connected to the internet while they're playing Mario Kart they'll still show up as online in the home menu, even if they're just playing single player.

@Rooster30 Maybe try unlisting all your friends and re-adding them to see if that works? Also, @CinnamonRobin I swear I didn't see your avatar before making mine lol.

@Rooster30 With all the different game modes in Mario Kart 8, you still may need to coordinate in real life with people to play online with friends. Just because they show as online with Mario Kart 8, doesn't mean they are playing the same mode as you. There are several online modes; There's online racing. There are online battles (coin runners, renegade roundup, balloon battle, etc). Or, as CinnamonRobin mentioned above, many people have wifi enabled by default, and happen to be playing single player Mario Kart. Which, you can't joine them in single player, you 'd have to coordinate in real life via phone/text/email to let them know you want to race/battle them online - be sure to say which mode you want to play.

Sometimes I am able to randomly join a Switch-friend racing online. That's the only mode I've successfully joined friends without communicating in real life.