Not long after Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope’s launch, Ubisoft revealed that in spite of the widespread acclaim it had garnered, the turn-based tactics title had failed to sell to the company’s internal expectations, with CEO Yves Guillemot later stating that the game likely would have sold better if it had been released for the Nintendo Switch’s successor, something that Nintendo has advised Ubisoft on as well.
Fortunately for the game, its makers, and its fans though, it seems that steady and consistent sales over a prolonged period since its release have resulted in something of a turnaround. As per a report published by VGC, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope has sold nearly three million copies to date, which is roughly in line with how its predecessor Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was performing at this point in its life. Kingdom Battle would go on to accumulate over 10 million players.
As per what sources have told VGC, discounts on the Switch eShop have been partly responsible for the game’s continued sales. The tactics game also received three expansions following its release in The Tower of Doooom, The Last Spark Hunter, and Rayman in the Phantom Show, though how much of an impact they had on sales (if any) isn’t mentioned.
Back in August last year, when asked about Sparks of Hope’s disappointing sales, Mario + Rabbids series producer Cristina Nava said Ubisoft was “confident” the game would be a “slow burn” and enjoy growing sales “over a number of years”. Sure enough, that’s what seems to be happening, though as VGC points out, it’s likely that Ubisoft will still have performed Sparks of Hope to perform better than Kingdom Battle did, something that it doesn’t seem to be doing up to this point.
In our review of the game, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a massive leap over its already-excellent predecessor, making a whole host of changes and improvements and delivering an utterly charming and mechanically dense tactics experience.” Read the full review through here.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is available on the Nintendo Switch.
