The secret strategy behind merging Nintendo's icons with Ubisoft's anarchy

Sport & Games · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Merging a polished icon like Mario with the chaotic Rabbids required a delicate creative balance. Developers navigated high-stakes brand negotiations by choosing a new strategy genre, designing exaggerated sci-fi weaponry, and producing thousands of unique animations to ensure the final product felt like a true, surprising crossover for both audiences.

To create Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Paris had to navigate a complex creative tightrope. The goal was to merge two vastly different franchises: Nintendo's polished Mario universe and the anarchic, unpredictable world of the Rabbids. Because neither franchise had ever explored the turn-based strategy genre, the developers chose it as a unique way to stand out, aiming to surprise even Nintendo itself.

The development process was fraught with high-stakes negotiations. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, was initially concerned about giving Mario characters weapons. To solve this, Ubisoft drew inspiration from films like The Fifth Element, opting for exaggerated, sci-fi-inspired arm cannons rather than realistic firearms. Nintendo also pushed for the "weirdness" of the Rabbids, viewing them as a unique source of humor that could inject new life into the Mario IP.

Technically, the team had to juggle a new game engine, Snowdrop, while ensuring the game felt like a Nintendo title. They used the Mario Kart series as a reference to ensure the combat felt fast-paced and colorful, rather than the slow, dull colors typical of many strategy games. To maintain brand integrity, Ubisoft produced about 1,500 specific animations to ensure the Mario characters looked and moved correctly, while simultaneously crafting Rabbid characters like Rabbid Peach who mirrored the original characters' traits in stereotypically contrasting ways.

The project even involved a secret musical collaboration. Composer Grant Kirkhope was initially led to believe he was scoring a standard Rabbids game until he discovered the Mario crossover. Working across different time zones from Los Angeles and Milan, Kirkhope composed approximately 2.5 hours of music to bring the two worlds together.

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