Mario + Rabbids Dev: Pre-E3 Leaks Were 'Discouraging'

"We were aiming to do a big surprise at E3."

By Alex Gilyadov

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle's pre-E3 leaks were quite discouraging for the team behind the project.

Prior to the Ubisoft's official announcement during its E3 2017 press conference, several leaks, including the game's art assets and release window, surfaced online.

In an interview with Eurogamer, creative director Davide Soliani said the developers "were aiming to do a big surprise at E3," which ultimately did not pan out.

The not so positive response Mario + Rabbids received when it was first leaked was also rough on the studio. "Of course, it was quite a bad backlash for the entire team," said Soliani. "Discouraging. Quite hard on the team morale."

Soliani tried to reassure the team that, despite the negative response, they were still making a quality game. But, as Soliani explained, "there is no way to avoid not feeling anything towards this kind of feedback. We're passionate guys and not just doing this as a job, but also for the pleasure of giving emotion to the player."

However, the response towards Mario + Rabbids has proven to be much more positive following its official reveal. For IGN's thoughts on the game, which launches on August 29 for Nintendo Switch, read our Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle preview.

Also be sure to check out our interview with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto on Nintendo and Ubisoft's partnership.

Alex Gilyadov is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. 

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