A brief change in a social media account’s theme and handle suggests that a new Mario/Rabbids crossover might be in the works for 2021 or beyond. The mascots of Nintendo and Ubisoft first joined forces in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, an XCom style strategy game for the Nintendo Switch that saw rave reviews and high sales when it was released in 2017.
However, aside from some Ubisoft-supported community events and a Donkey Kong-centric expansion in 2018, things have been rather quiet for the unlikely union of princess-rescuing plumbers and minigame-crazed bunnies. In fact, the Rabbids themselves haven’t made a proper video game appearance since 2019’s Rabbids Coding, a free-to-play PC edutainment title designed to teach young gamers computer programming. However, there are signs that the delightfully demented lagomorphs of Rayman fame might just be returning to the Mushroom Kingdom in the near future.
According to Siliconera, the official Rabbids Twitter account briefly changed its name from “RabbidsOfficial” to “MarioRabbids” yesterday, though it was changed back shortly afterward. Twitter user So_Ethereal took note of this change, speculating that Ubisoft could be working with Nintendo on a sequel to Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle – a theory supported by the Rabbids account featuring images from that game in both its heading and avatar picture before being reverted to its former, non-crossover insinuating self.
This hypothetical Mario + Rabbids sequel would come right on the heels of the Super Mario franchise’s 35th anniversary celebration, which has led to several new games, events, and even a new Nintendo Switch edition based on the iconic plumber over the past year or so. The most recent game to come from this promotion will be February’s Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, a remaster of the 2013 Wii U exclusive with an entirely new (albeit brief) campaign that pits Mario against Bowser’s fiery and ferocious new Fury form.
Although nothing official has been set in stone yet from either Nintendo or Ubisoft, the RabbidsOfficial Twitter account’s sudden and brief name change does suggest some kind of Super Mario/Rabbids crossover could be on the horizon, be that a proper sequel to Kingdom Battle, a new expansion or perhaps an entirely different game altogether. In any case, it looks the Mushroom Kingdom might be in for another fluffy invasion on the Switch in the not-to-distant future.
