Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Shows Ubisoft Firmly Stands By the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch may end up living and dying on its third party support, but Ubisoft has made its intentions clear. It stands with the Switch.
Personally, I’m a huge believer in the Nintendo Switch. I love using Nintendo’s new console and I seriously hope it’s a success for the company. One thing I’ve been worried about, however, is how third parties will support the console. Nintendo is great at giving its consoles support from their exclusive blockbusters like Mario and Zelda, but if it doesn’t have other big gaming franchises and studios on-side, it might not sell as many units as it would like. Tonight at E3, a clear statement was made when Shigeru Miyamoto came out on stage to reveal Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a collaboration between Nintendo and Ubisoft. This is something we haven’t seen on this scale, possibly ever. Nintendo is very protective of its IP, and allowing Ubisoft to merge one of its franchises with Nintendo’s biggest is like two huge Game of Thrones families joining their houses with a wedding. Unlike a Game of Thrones wedding however, this doesn’t seem to be a bloody affair.
Ubisoft Paris has “been working on this game for more than three years now,” said Xavier Manzanares, Producer of the title. The collaboration has been kept under pretty thorough wraps, with Manzanares initially exclaiming “Finally! Finally, we can talk about this game!” For the title to have been in the works for over three years means that Nintendo has entrusted in Ubisoft to develop for the Switch long before the console was announced. In some ways, the collaboration shouldn’t really be a surprise. Back in September, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot praised the then-codenamed “NX” by saying, “They have built something that will give us a chance to really have a different experience from what exists today.”
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a Mario game like no other. With Rabbids blending into the mushroom kingdom, Mario must work alongside them to save the day. The game will use turn-based combat which looks extremely entertaining to use and will include well-known characters such as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Donkey Kong, as well as their incredibly cute Rabbids counterparts. The game will be an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch and will release on August 29th. The release date is extremely important as it will bridge the gap between Nintendo’s scheduled releases for their new console: Splatoon 2 is set for release on July 21st, but there’s little else of note until Skyrim and Super Mario Odyssey which are both expected in time for Christmas.
Whether you’re a fan of how the game looked on the E3 stage or not, it has to be said that this is an important landmark in terms of third party support for the Switch. Having Nintendo collaborate to such an extent with another company gives me real hope that developers might start to believe in the console and want to develop for it themselves. Before now, signs have been ominous, with Gearbox Software’s CEO, Randy Pitchford saying that a Switch version of Borderlands 3 wouldn’t be happening: “We were talking to Nintendo, but that stopped for some reason. They have other priorities.” With Nintendo sending a huge figurehead like Miyamoto onto the Ubisoft stage with a franchise like Mario, it can definitely be said Nintendo has a few moves up its sleeve.
Along with Mario + Rabbids, Ubisoft also showed that it’s developing a few other games for the Switch. One being Starlink: Battle For Atlas. How far, then, will Ubisoft’s support go? Will we now see more big companies showing this kind of love for the Switch? With Nintendo’s show just around the corner, we’ll have to wait and see.
