Mario+Rabbid’s Davide Soliani and Red Dead Redemption’s Christian Cantamessa just formed a new game studio

Mario+Rabbids director Davide Soliani and Red Dead Redemption lead designer Christian Cantamessa have joined up and formed a new game studio

Ubisoft

Former Mario+Rabbids director Davide Soliani and Red Dead Redemption lead designer Christian Cantamessa have joined up and formed a new game studio called Day 4 Night. PUBG-maker Krafton and 1UpVentures, a venture fund founded by Xbox co-founder Ed Fries, are funding Day 4 Night, and the studio has an adorable badger-thing wearing flight goggles as its mascot.

“Day 4 Night is an independent game development studio focused on delivering deeply heartfelt and original games that innovate in storytelling and design,” the studio’s description reads.

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“What we are crafting at Day 4 Night is a reflection of everything I’ve ever wanted to experience as a player - joy, adventure, poetry, action, wonder, and the pleasure of working with friends,” Soliani said in a press release. 

“When I first fell in love with video games at the start of my career, I saw the power of this new medium to tell stories never told before and create worlds that could transform people,” Cantamessa said. “Day 4 Night is a return to that innovative spirit, to that innocence, to that unbridled creativity.”

Day 4 Night has offices in Milan and Los Angeles, and other former Ubiso veterans joined Soliani, including Luca Breda, Gian Marco Zanna, and Cristina Nava, who worked on projects ranging from Mario+Rabbids to Star Wars Outlaws.

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Soliani and Cantamessa didn’t share any specifics about what Day 4 Night’s first project is, but Soliani described it as a project with hope at its core.

“It’s a lullaby for my soul and a serenade to our industry, to the magic and the madness of creating worlds from nothing,” he said. “It’s a story about triumphs, challenges, dreams, to light the path we walk together.”