Nintendo surprised everyone when it partnered with Ubisoft to make Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, an XCOM-like turn-based game that united the two mascots in an exceedingly fun game.
Kingdom Battle launched in late 2017 to positive reviews and sold well, eventually reaching 10 million unique players as of August 2022. Ubisoft prepared a sequel, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, and launched it in October 2022. The reviews were even better than the original. In Wccftech’s analysis, Kai Powell rated the game 8.5 out of 10:
Whether you saved the world together in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle or this is your first test of both the crossover spinoff and a tactical RPG, Sparks of Hope is an ingenious use of both IPs to create something unlike any other RPG out there. Filled with charm, explosions, and the incessant ‘Bwahh’ing of Rabbid NPCs, there’s a certain charm to this unlikely fusion. The smart changes to how combat plays out and capturing our sense of nostalgia once more make Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope one Ubisoft adventure that you don’t want to miss.
However, the game sold poorly on Nintendo Switch, as revealed by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot in January 2023. At the time, the executive expressed the company’s surprise at the underperformance.
On the other hand, in a fresh interview conducted at last week’s Ubisoft Forward by GamesIndustry.biz, Guillemot offered an interesting insight: Nintendo told Ubisoft it should have released the game on its next console.
We had already released a Mario Rabbids game on Switch, so by doing another we had two similar experiences on one machine. On Nintendo, games like this never die. There are 25 Mario games on Switch. Nintendo has 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. Because you could play a great game. And we think it will last for ten years, because we will update it for the new machine that will come in the future.
It is indeed Nintendo’s modus operandi to only release a major new game for its franchises on every console. Technically, The Legend of Zelda broke that rule, but that’s only because Breath of the Wild was a cross-gen title. The more interesting part is that this could be taken as a hint that the Nintendo Switch successor is not that far away. After all, Guillemot said they were ‘a bit too early’.
The next Nintendo console has long been rumored. Last month, Sharp revealed they were producing LCD displays for a new console, renewing speculation on the new hardware.
While a Nintendo Direct is scheduled to air later today, it likely won’t include any mention of the Switch successor. That could come at a later date, even if Nintendo is targeting 2024 for the launch.
