We all have our favourite moments from the history of the now defunct E3, but perhaps one of the most recognisable and emotional moments in the history of the world’s biggest gaming show was at the 2017 edition, when Shigeru Miyamoto took to the stage to present Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and praised the work and sense of humour that came from mixing Mario with Ubisoft’s wacky characters, thanks to its creative director, Davide Soliani. At this point the Game Director stands up in tears and salutes the audience and Miyamoto himself. A scene that still brings a smile to our faces today.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was followed by Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, but it looks like we won’t be seeing a third instalment, or at least not under Soliani’s watchful eye. The director, who has been with Ubisoft for 25 years (and 11 of them linked to the Mario + Rabbids series) has announced on X that he is leaving the company and embarking on “a new adventure” that he can’t give us any details about yet.
Let’s sincerely hope that Soliani continues to work as passionately as he did on the series that was the Ubisoft-Nintendo partnership, and that we’ll soon find out what worlds he’ll be taking us to.