Ubisoft CEO on collaborating with Nintendo on Mario + Rabbids, leaves the door open to future collaborations

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently stopped by the IGN Unfiltered podcast to talk about his career, the company and its various games, and more. For a few minutes, the crossover Switch game Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was discussed.

Guillemot first shared the following about the origins of the project:

“Yes, it comes to me for sure, because it’s really not only a game, it’s really a relationship – a collaboration with Nintendo. The way it happened is that our teams at Ubisoft have always been so impressed by what Nintendo was doing that they wanted to collaborate with Nintendo and we did so in being early on all the machines Nintendo did and we did a lot on the Wii if you remember, and the Wii U. The optimal relationship that we could have was to work with Mr. Miyamoto and for us having that possibility was fantastic because you can learn how he does things, you can get feedback on everything you do, so that has been an experience that has been really cool for all the members of the company I would say. That’s why it was a discussion we had with Mr. Iwata (and with) the person who was organizing the relation between Ubisoft and Nintendo, and so it has been I would say a long discussion and we had to convince Mr. Miyamoto with what we were showing and what we could do. Step by step they opened the door for us to do Mario + Rabbids.”

Something else Guillemot was asked about is whether he kept a closer eye on Mario + Rabbids compared to other projects:

“We have gates, so I participate through all the gates of the different games we create, and this one yes for sure it had a lot of attention because it was something totally different from what we were doing, but it actually went very well. The relationship was well established. As for our teams, it was working with God – it was something that they were spending lots of time to make sure it could be perfect.”

Fans will remember that Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle director Davide Soliani was seen getting emotional when the game was revealed during Ubisoft’s E3 2017 press conference. Regarding that moment, Guillemot said:

“It was a wonderful moment. And it was a wonderful moment for me too because seeing a person who was a fan of Nintendo being able to create something that was recognized by Mr. Miyamoto was something that gave me a lot of promise. I was really proud to see that kind of thing could happen, and when a person from Ubisoft is happy, I’m always extremely happy.”

To close out the discussion on Mario + Rabbids, Guillemot was asked about a possible sequel and whether the partnership with Nintendo will continue. In response, he said: “We can’t say much today, but we had a good relationship, so let’s see what will come.”