Ubisoft CEO: Mario+Rabbids sequel belonged on Switch successor

Mario+Rabbids: Sparks of Hope came out last year, but Ubisoft Yves Guillemot thinks that was too soon. Speaking to GamesIndustry, the French developer's CEO thinks the sequel may have ended up doing better had it come out on the (currently unannounced) Nintendo Switch successor.

Interestingly, he revealed that Nintendo was the one who suggested the game be saved until then, saying it was "[advised] that it's better to do one iteration on each machine. We were a bit too early, we should have waited for [the next console]."

Sparks of Hope has been a notable discussion point for Ubisoft since its late 2022 release. The title was listed as one of many games during the holiday season that underperformed, and Guillemot was upfront in saying it should've heeded Nintendo's advice. 

He didn't offer any insight into how those discussions played out, or why Ubisoft elected to release it last year. As he acknowledged, there are "25 Mario games on [the Nintendo] Switch," so it would've been fine to let sit for a while. 

Releasing Mario games is all about the timing

Mario is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, and new entries release at a consistent pace. However, some sub-franchises, like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart, only release one entry per Nintendo system.

This is where the character's popularity works both for and against Ubisoft's strategy spinoff. As Guillemot himself acknowledged, the Japanese developer's first-party titles tend to have a long lifespan, and nowhere is that more clear than with Mario.  

Referencing 2017's Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, he further noted that game's overwhelming success may have ended up working against its sequel. "By doing another, we had two similar experiences on one machine," he pointed out. "On Nintendo, games like this never die."

Even with the sales slump of Sparks, it sounds like it (or maybe both games) could jump over to the next Nintendo system. Guillemot said he thinks the game "will last for 10 years, because we will update it for the new machine that will come in the future."

Guillemot's further thoughts on Ubisoft recent and future output, such as Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Star Wars Outlaws, can be read over at GamesIndustry.