“It was somewhat painful”
In a recent interview with VGC, Mario + Rabbids director Davide Soliani reflected on the moment when the team became aware that Ubisoft had concerns about the sales performance of 2022’s Sparks of Hope.
In summary, the game did not live up to Ubisoft’s internal standards, with CEO Yves Guillemot even suggesting that Ubisoft might have benefited from delaying until the next Switch console. However, considering the enthusiasm from its development team and the generally positive critical reception from gamers, Soliani and the rest of the crew felt quite disheartened by the news.
“The feedback we received regarding the game’s performance was somewhat painful for the team’s morale. We had just dedicated three and a half years to creating a truly solid game. So, understandably, it was not the kind of news we wanted to receive at that time.
“It was somewhat painful, but nothing extreme. I believe that’s common… every development team takes pride in their work and consistently seeks positive reinforcement, which in that situation was perhaps necessary. It was a little harsh on the team, but we managed to address it through internal discussions when we were in the office.”
There are many situations where we cannot entirely fault Ubisoft for simply stating the reality; the game did underperform, and that’s just how it is. However, this brings up a significant broader discussion about why this happened and what Ubisoft’s initial expectations were.
Soliani also touched on the pressure surrounding Sparks of Hope following the success of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. He expressed that since the first installment was such a fresh concept, there were no benchmarks for how it might perform upon release:
“With the first game, no one was really trying to stop me. Because there were no expectations for Kingdom Battle, I had a lot of creative freedom. However, since the first one achieved great success, Sparks of Hope became significantly more challenging to develop than Kingdom Battle. There was a lot of overanalyzing happening all around me. So for me, it was a bit… it was still a pleasure, it was a fantastic experience because I have always enjoyed collaborating with Nintendo and I always will.”
Soliani now leads a new indie studio called Day 4 Evening, with esteemed composer Grant Kirkhope coming aboard as a full-time team member. Naturally, the team is eager to collaborate with Nintendo on a future project, stating that “If one day Nintendo wants to come knocking at our door, I believe that both Christian (Cantamessa) and I would be open to discussing it.”