Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hopedid seem like a big launch forUbisoftback in 2022, especially after the widely favorable reviews that it received from both media and the community, however, the French publisher recently revealed that it has underperformed commercially.
Originally launched back in October 2022, Ubisoft did expect the game the perform quite well in late 2022 as well as January 2023, but the game surprisingly missed its financial targets. “Despite excellent ratings and players’ reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January,” reads the statement for a financial update shared recently by Ubisoft.
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Soon after releasing the statement above, there was an investor call, during which Ubisoft announced that it has made the decision to cancel three unannounced projects and delay Skull & Bones once again. Just Dance 2023 was another title to miss its commercial targets in 2022.
The CEO of Ubisoft Yves Guillemot commented on the unexpected performance of Sparks of Hope, blaming the rising inflation and economic environment as core reasons why people have preferred new titles from mega-brands and long-running franchises to smaller and new ones like Mario + Rabbids. “When there’s more pressure, people go for the biggest brands, and they don’t go for the small ones,” said Guillemot. “What we have observed is that there has been some contraction in overall consumer spending coming from the economic environment and rising inflation.”
Launching as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope faced some big rivals such asBayonetta 3andPokemon: Scarlet & Violetin 2022. Aside from that, players with multiple consoles may have preferred to play titles such asCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2orGod of War: Ragnarokbefore they find a free time for Sparks of Hope.
“All we can say about Rabbids is that the game has been really well appreciated by players: we are getting community ratings that are excellent. We feel that the game is going to do good numbers over time, but the beginning was not at all what we expected,” Guillemot added.
It is yet to be seen if this poor financial performance could put an end to the Mario + Rabbids franchise in the future.
