There were multiple major releases for the Nintendo Switch in 2022. Some were from 1st-party developers, and others were from 3rd-party developers. For Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, it was a collaboration effort headed up by Ubisoft, who made the beloved Kingdom Battle title featuring Mario and the Rabbids in 2017. The game was highly anticipated for many reasons, and many expected it to sell incredibly well. While we don’t have the official numbers just yet, Ubisoft is making some odd statements about its performance.
Specifically, Ubisoft held a “financial outlook” meeting and said that despite the game being beloved…it hasn’t been selling well recently:
“We are clearly disappointed by our recent performance. We are facing contrasted market dynamics as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and everlasting live games, in the context of worsening economic conditions affecting consumer spending,” Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot said of the company. “Despite excellent ratings and players’ reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope’s underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January.”
There are lots of keywords there to point out. The biggest ones are the “final weeks of 2022 and early January.” So it’s not that the game sold poorly at launch, it’s that the game isn’t selling well right now. That’s an odd way to judge a game, and many are confused by what’s going on here. We know from initial stats that the sales of Sparks of Hope were at least a little better than Kingdom Battle at launch. Longevity of sales isn’t always something to predict, and given the swath of games that came out at the end of the year, some might not have wanted to get the game until they were done with the rest. Many have pointed out that Ubisoft doesn’t have a major release for some time, so they were likely “banking” on this title to “pull its weight” until that release. Hopefully, we’ll get definitive sales numbers for the title soon.
Be sure to read our Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope review!
