Italian game design Davide Soliani has announced that he is leaving Ubisoft. Soliani has been at Ubisoft for 25 years, and over the course of the previous decade, led the development team at Ubisoft Milan that worked with Nintendo on the Mario + Rabbids titles.
“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,” Soliani wrote in a statement on Twitter. “I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly.”
Ubisoft Milan, the lead developer of the Mario + Rabbids series, also confirmed Soliani’s departure on Twitter, writing, “After more than 20 years, Davide Soliani and Ubisoft Milan part ways, as friends. Davide and the teams at Ubisoft Milan still share the same quest — to make gamers have fun, scream with delight, and dream – but we will now be on a different path.”
“We hope that he will like what we will work on in the future, as we will definitely keep in mind his best teaching: surprise players with unexpected experiences,” the studio added.
In addition to serving as creative director on both Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Soliani has worked on a number of other titles during his tenure at Ubisoft, including Rainbow Six, Just Dance, Beyond Good and Evil, Open Season, and more. Soliani has yet to announce where he’ll be headed next after Ubisoft.