Ubisoft boss believes it should have waited for next Nintendo console to release Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has spoken on the performance of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and believes the company should have hold off on releasing the game until Switch’s successor launched.

Speaking with GamesIndustry, Guillemot mentioned how Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was already available on Switch, and the sequel resulted in “two similar experiences on one machine.” He further mentioned “Nintendo [has advised] that it’s better to do one iteration on each machine.”

Guillemot’s full words:

“The market is suffering a little bit with the inflation situation. There’s more pressure on all the families to be more careful. We see that everywhere… we met with a first-party partner at midday, and they have also seen the influence of the economic conditions on how much people are buying.

Although, I think it was a different issue with Mario. 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.”

Guillemot said at the start of 2023 that Ubisoft was “surprised” by Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope’s “underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January.” Specific sales figures weren’t provided.