Davide Soliani, the creative director behind the popular Mario + Rabbids games, has announced his departure from Ubisoft after 25 years with the company. In a heartfelt message on social media, Soliani shared his decision to leave and embark on a new adventure. “After 25 years, 11 of which were beautifully spent working with Nintendo on Mario + Rabbids along with the company of our incredible community of players, I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure,” Soliani wrote.
“I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”
Soliani joined Ubisoft in 1997 as a game designer and eventually became the lead game designer and studio manager at Ubisoft Montreal and Milan. He briefly left the company to work on Kuju’s Battalion Wars for Nintendo GameCube but returned to Ubisoft Montreal in 2006, where he served as lead game designer on titles such as Open Season and Avatar.
In 2013, Soliani was appointed creative director at Ubisoft Milan, where he led the development of the Mario + Rabbids franchise.
Soliani’s heartfelt farewell
The first game in the series, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, launched in 2017 and has reached 10 million players.
The sequel, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, was released in 2022 and received positive reviews, although initial sales figures were modest. Ubisoft expressed gratitude for Soliani’s contributions, with the company stating, “Thank you so much for all your incredible work Davide. It’s our turn to cry this time.
Best wishes for the worlds you’ll journey through next.”
Ubisoft Milan, the studio behind the Mario + Rabbids games, is currently contributing to the development of the highly anticipated Star Wars: Outlaws. The studio is expected to lead another major project following this collaboration. The gaming community and industry professionals will be closely watching to see what new path Soliani will take in his career after his significant achievements at Ubisoft.
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