As a post-launch update, Super Mario Maker 2 will include online multiplayer with friends.

In a few weeks, Super Mario Maker 2 will be released; visually, it is nearly entirely superior to the already fantastic first game. The news that the game's online multiplayer will only be matchmaking—preventing you from playing with your friends—has drawn a lot of criticism in more recent times. We were hopeful that this might change in the future, and Nintendo officially announced today that Super Mario Maker 2 would include online multiplayer with pals.

Nintendo revealed almost little about the game at their E3 Nintendo Direct this morning, which surprised us a little bit considering how much they have already revealed to us about it. The primary explanation for this, however, is that they kept it for later usage in the Nintendo Treehouse segments, when the online multiplayer was revealed.

It was disclosed during this session that Super Mario Maker 2 would get a post-launch upgrade enabling online multiplayer gameplay instead than relying only on random matching. Although they did not provide a date, it seemed like it would happen shortly after launch from the way they talked. While we hope to get it shortly after release, at least now we know it will happen eventually.

On June 28, Super Mario Maker 2 will be available for the Nintendo Switch.