After Ubisoft admitted to being "disappointed" by the launch sales of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope last year, it looks like the sleeper sequel's luck has been somewhat on the turn in the ensuing period.
A new report from VGC claims that Mario's tactical follow-up is, in fact, knocking on the door of three million sales which, according to the outlet, puts the game's performance roughly in line with its predecessor (Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle) for the time since launch.
There has been no official word on the game's sales from Ubisoft just yet, with the above figure coming from sources who spoke to VGC. That said, a year of hefty eShop discounts and pretty consistent appearances in the UK top 40 charts wouldn't make this number necessarily surprising.
Back in August, Mario + Rabbids series producer Cristina Nava claimed that Ubisoft Milan was "not worried" by the game's initial sales, with the team confident that it would continue to grow in the future. If the latest reported figures are to be believed, this claim is proving correct.
Of course, we would think that Ubisoft had bigger dreams for the Mario + Rabbids sequel than seeing it follow the same financial trajectory as the first game, especially given the predecessor's large install base. But hey, three million sales is an improvement on the disappointing picture from this time last year, so let's stick with the optimism of that for now.
Would Sparks of Hope being released on Nintendo's next console have boosted its sales further (as suggested by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot last year)? Possibly, though that's a question we'll never know the answer to — unless these reported sales numbers point to a chance of a third game, that is...