Mario + Rabbids 2: Sparks of Hope, the sequel to the unlikely collaboration between Nintendo and Ubisoft, is apparently launching on October 20, 2022.
We say "apparently" because Ubisoft hasn't made any official announcement. Rather, the release date was quietly added to the Ubisoft Store listing for Mario + Rabbids 2. Curiously, Ubisoft doesn't seem particularly eager to remove the apparent leak from the interwebs - at the time of writing, you can check it out for yourself right here.
Mario + Rabbids 2 made its surprise debut during Ubisoft's E3 2021 showcase last year, but it was a no-show at this year's (not) E3. There were unconfirmed rumors that the sequel would be delayed out of its 2022 launch window, but that certainly doesn't appear to be the case anymore.
In case you missed it, Ubisoft confirmed early on Monday that it will be in attendance at Gamescom 2022 in August, though it stopped short of teasing what might be in store for the show. With an October release date for Mario + Rabbids 2 all but confirmed, there's a decent enough chance we'll see a new trailer at Gamescom.
Sparks of Hope reunites Mario, Luigi, and Peach with the utterly unhinged Rabbids for another round of strategic fun, but there are some big changes being introduced in the sequel. For example, gone is the original game's grid-based movement system, replaced by what Ubisoft describes as being "more fluid" and action-packed. The sequel also takes place across a whole bunch of planets rather than one vaguely similar world.
"We have a lot of planets," lead producer Xavier Manzanares said. "We won't spoil the amount… but we went crazy over the number of different environments, and what happens on each planet - could be on the narrative side, or with the different puzzles or mysteries that you have in exploration or even the type of enemies and what they do."
We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment and we'll update this article if we hear back.
For what to play right now, don't miss our guide to the best Switch games in 2022.
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