Ubisoft Milan creative director Davide Soliani is departing the studio after 25 years.
Soliani has worked on a litany of titles over the year, but is best known for overseeing development of the Mario+Rabbids franchise as creative director. Prior to that, he worked on other franchises such as Beyond Good & Evil, Rayman, Rainbow Six, Just Dance, and Tomb Raider.
In a short post on X, Soliani said he was leaving Ubsoft to “embark on a new adventure.”
“Hi all folks. After 25 years, 11 of which beautifully spent working with Nintendo on Mario+Rabbids along the company of our incredible community of players, I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure,” he wrote. “I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”
Ubisoft paid tribute to Soliani in a reply. “Thank you so much for all your incredible work Davide. It’s our turn to cry this time,” said the company. “Best wishes for the worlds you’ll journey through next.”
Mario+Rabbids sparks joy
Mario+Rabbids established itself as a bona fide franchise after debuting in 2017—following a famous E3 reveal that saw Soliani shed a tear when Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto hopped on stage for the announcement.
The latest entry in the series, Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope has reportedly sold 3 million copies, but Ubisoft seemingly expected more from the sequel out of the gate.
Shortly after it launched in October 2022, Ubisoft indicated the title had underperformed and perhaps should have been held back for the Switch’s inevitable successor.
During an interview last year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in an ideal world the company would release “one [franchise] iteration on each machine,” and claimed Sparks of Hope debuted “a bit too early.”
Hindsight is 20/20, but with Nintendo yet to unveil its next console—which is rumored to launch next year—Ubisoft would have been waiting for some time.