Mario + Rabbids Director Recalls “Fantastic” Time With Nintendo, Would Be Open To Collab Again
Davide Soliani, the creative mind behind Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Sparks of Hope, left Ubisoft last year and formed his own indie studio, Day 4 Night, with the help of Red Dead Redemption’s Christian Cantamessa and composer extraordinaire Grant Kirkhope.
Now, in an interview with VGC, the director has spoken a little (and we mean a little) more candidly about his new team’s original IP, his decision to leave Ubisoft and his “fantastic” time working with Nintendo — a collaboration that, he said, he would be keen to be a part of again.
Speaking to VGC about the partnership with Nintendo on Mario + Rabbids, Soliani described the 11-year stint as “the most important” of his 26-year career. The time with Nintendo was “absolutely fantastic,” Soliani stated, calling it “The most important emotionally, but also in terms of learning experience and collaborating experience”.
But what about working together again? While nothing appears to be on the cards at the moment, Soliani, naturally, seems like he’d be interested in such a proposition: “If one day Nintendo wants to knock on our door, I think that me and Christian are going to answer”. Probably a good move, eh?
Of course, VGC was also keen to hear the director’s initial thoughts on Switch 2, which Soliani admitted he’s “loving” the look of so far. Just like the rest of us, however, he was disappointed by the “noise and rumours we heard about leaks” in the run-up to the reveal, stating, “it just ruins the surprise”.
While Ubisoft was quick to claim it was “disappointed” in Sparks of Hope’s financial performance, the game received a warm critical reception and its sales numbers have continued to grow (VGC predicts them to be roughly in line with the first game). Despite this, Soliani still states that he left the company with no bad blood and continues to wish it well, even during its current rocky period.
The full VGC interview sees Soliani discuss the difference between working on Sparks of Hope and Kingdom Battle, his views on AI, and provide a very small update on his studio’s original IP which Cantamessa describes as “something that will grow in scope and grow in content”.
Davide Soliani, the creative mind behind Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Sparks of Hope, left Ubisoft last year and formed his own indie studio, Day 4 Night, with the help of Red Dead Redemption’s Christian Cantamessa and composer extraordinaire Grant Kirkhope.
Now, in an interview with VGC, the director has spoken a little (and we mean a little) more candidly about his new team's original IP, his decision to leave Ubisoft and his "fantastic" time working with Nintendo — a collaboration that, he said, he would be keen to be a part of again.
Speaking to VGC about the partnership with Nintendo on Mario + Rabbids, Soliani described the 11-year stint as "the most important" of his 26-year career. The time with Nintendo was "absolutely fantastic," Soliani stated, calling it "The most important emotionally, but also in terms of learning experience and collaborating experience".
But what about working together again? While nothing appears to be on the cards at the moment, Soliani, naturally, seems like he'd be interested in such a proposition: "If one day Nintendo wants to knock on our door, I think that me and Christian are going to answer". Probably a good move, eh?
Of course, VGC was also keen to hear the director's initial thoughts on Switch 2, which Soliani admitted he's "loving" the look of so far. Just like the rest of us, however, he was disappointed by the "noise and rumours we heard about leaks" in the run-up to the reveal, stating, "it just ruins the surprise".
While Ubisoft was quick to claim it was "disappointed" in Sparks of Hope's financial performance, the game received a warm critical reception and its sales numbers have continued to grow (VGC predicts them to be roughly in line with the first game). Despite this, Soliani still states that he left the company with no bad blood and continues to wish it well, even during its current rocky period.
The full VGC interview sees Soliani discuss the difference between working on Sparks of Hope and Kingdom Battle, his views on AI, and provide a very small update on his studio's original IP which Cantamessa describes as "something that will grow in scope and grow in content".
