Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope team has grown three times bigger than the first game

The team behind Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope has tripled in size according to the game’s creative director and associate producer. 

In an interview with Multiplayer.it, the game’s creative director Davide Soliani and associate producer Cristina Nava, both from Ubisoft Milan, said that the team behind the Mario + Rabbids sequel has tripled since the release of the first game. According to the pair, there were just over 100 people working on the first game, however, with the help of other divisions of Ubisoft that number has grown three times bigger. 

Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope was leaked just before the Ubisoft Forward E3 2021 presentation - by none other than Nintendo themselves via the company’s website. We did get our first look at the game during the live stream though as a new trailer showcased the usual antics expected of this real-time strategy crossover game along with the news that Mario alumni Rosalina - and her slightly creepy Rabbid counterpart - will also be joining the fun this time around.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Soliani and Nava gave a small insight into the upcoming game noting that there are no limits to the team composition in the sequel, which was apparently a fan suggestion that the team took into account when developing the game. This means players can customize their squads so that they contain just Rabbids or just the Mushroom Kingdom gang. They also noted that Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope is less linear than the first game, however, it isn't quite open-world. 

As for why this time around the Rabbids and co will be in space, Soliani states that towards the end of the first Mario + Rabbids game, as well as after the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC, the team wanted to create something new. He continues: "Since then we had much bigger ambitions, and we decided to set the adventure in space precisely to give it a galactic, cosmic tone, to make a wide-ranging adventure.” (Translated via Google)

Soliani wasn’t shy about comparing it to the likes of Mario’s other space exploits either, stating: “Of course we wink at Super Mario Galaxy, but [...] also with many other elements of Mario's worlds and universe.”

Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope is set to release in 2022, exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. 

For more games to look forward to from 2021 and beyond, take a look at our upcoming Switch games list.