Mario + Rabbids lead Davide Soliani has left Ubisoft

Davide Soliani, the Italian game designer best known for the Mario + Rabbids games, has left Ubisoft.

Announcing the news on social media, the creative director said he’d decided to “embark on a new adventure” but did not share details of his next career step.

“Hi all folks. After 25 years, 11 of which beautifully spent working with Nintendo on Mario+Rabbids along the company of our incredible community of players, I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure,” he wrote. “I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”

During 25 years at Ubisoft Milan, Soliani was notably the creative lead on both Mario + Rabbids games, the first of which has reached 10 million players since 2017, according to Ubisoft.

The sequel, Sparks of Hope, was released in 2022 and has sold more than 3 million copies, per VGC sources.

Despite strong reviews, Sparks of Hope initially disappointed commercially during its release window of October 2022, with Ubisoft stating it was “surprised” by its underperformance during the final weeks of 2022.

CEO Yves Guillemot later suggested the sequel should have been held back for the Switch’s successor, since Nintendo regularly releases just a single instalment of its major franchises per system, and enjoys long and steady sales of each game.

Speaking to VGC last summer, Mario + Rabbids series producer Cristina Nava claimed that the studio expected Sparks of Hope to sell over a long period of time, like its predecessor did.

“The first Mario + Rabbids had more than 10 million players,” Nava said. “Even though it’s Mario, it’s also a genre game: turn-based tactical adventure. So we cannot expect to sell high numbers at the very beginning, because a game like that is a slow burner.

“Even if at the beginning it seemed like Sparks of Hope didn’t meet expectations, we are confident that over a number of years it will grow. Because it’s been received, by both the press and the public, very, very well. It’s just a matter of giving it time, with word of mouth etc.”

Mario + Rabbids studio Ubisoft Milan is currently helping to finish Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars: Outlaws. Asked what it plans to do beyond that, Nava said it would lead another “big, compelling” game.