Miyamoto reveals Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on Ubisoft stage – release date announced

Possibly the second most leaked title in video game history, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was finally announced during Ubisoft’s E3 press conference today. The game will come exclusively to Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2017.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a turn-based strategy game developed by Ubisoft featuring both: the slapstick humor-fueled Rabbids from the developer’s Raving Rabbids franchise; and the characters from Nintendo’s legendary Mario IP. The game was announced by both Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot and none other than Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, who made a surprise appearance at the conference.

Miyamoto-san came out sporting a cartoonish model gun (stylized to resemble a weapon in the game) for a few photo-ops, then spoke passionately about Ubisoft’s role as an ally to Nintendo over the years, complementing the company’s various original characters, including the Rabbids. The Nintendo designer stated that during pre-production, he had implored Ubisoft to create “not a jump game or a platforming game,” but a unique experience.

In Mario + Rabbids, players will lead their party through turn-based tactical battles against enemy Rabbids both big and small. Battles take place on maps similar to other strategy games, though character movement will not be set to a grid; Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Luigi and their friendly Rabbid lookalikes can move anywhere within a selected area each turn. Movement can be extended with the help of allies, upgraded abilities, and environmental mechanics—like Rabbid Pipes.

Combat abilities include mobile, melee and ranged attacks, the latter achieved with various types of guns.

Yes—there are guns in a Mario game.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle comes to Nintendo Switch on August 29. Check out some more footage of the game below:

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