Ubisoft announces Mario + Rabbids sequel for 2022

Ubisoft’s Mario and Rabbids crossover turn-based strategy game is getting a sequel for the Nintendo Switch: Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Ubisoft revealed both a new cinematic trailer and a sneak peek at some gameplay on Saturday, as well as a launch date for sometime in 2022. The official announcement at Ubisoft Forward followed a leak hours before on Nintendo’s own online store.

The first Mario + Rabbids title, Kingdom Battle, was originally revealed by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto at Ubisoft’s press conference at E3 2017. Despite the bizarre nature of its IP mashup, Kingdom Battle was one of the best early Switch games, mixing elements of the Mario and Rabbids characters with solid yet accessible X-COM-style tactical action. We called it “a shockingly good Nintendo Switch strategy game” in our review.

It’s not necessarily surprising that a well-received game would get a sequel a few years later, but this is an uncharacteristic mistake from Nintendo. Here’s how the Sparks of Hope page appeared on Nintendo’s website earlier on Saturday:

And here are the three screenshots:

Update June 12, 4:11PM ET: Updated to reflect that the game has been officially announced.