Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle's Versus Mode Incoming

The XCOM-esque Nintendo Switch game Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle has been pretty much an instant hit since launch. Now players that are enjoying the title can expect a new mode coming in as Ubisoft makes their latest announcement to Rabbid fans.

Starting tomorrow, a free update is coming to the game called Versus Mode. It will pit player against player in epic fights to victory and can be played both locally, as well as online. Here's what the developer team had to say about what's new to the world of Mario + Rabbids:

"How sharp are your Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle tactics? Sharp enough to test against another human player? You'll be able to find out on Friday, December 8, when the free Mario + Rabbids Versus mode arrives. Pitting you against a friend on the same system (and playable either with two controllers or with a pair of Joy-Cons), Versus challenges players to hand-pick their three-hero squads, and use every attack and technique available to them to claim victory across small, surprise-filled maps.

There's a catch, however. Each player has just three available actions per turn, and how you decide to invest them is a big part of the strategy here. You may be accustomed to moving, attacking, and using techniques for each of your heroes during every turn in the campaign and co-op, but Versus is a different story. Will you move all your characters into strategic positions, or will you spend all your actions to, say, move Luigi into a sniping spot, activate his motion-attacking Steely Gaze, and then open fire on a juicy target? Whatever you do, you can bet your opponent will be watching your every move, so be careful not to leave yourself vulnerable.

Versus mode's selectable combatants are evenly matched, from a skill-point standpoint. Instead of your leveled-up campaign characters, both players can choose from beefy, upgraded versions of all eight characters. You can stick with the solid all-around starter loadouts, or you can specialize using one of 16 unlockable variants (like Rabbid Luigi's Vampiric option, or Mario's BIG Stomp loadout), each with differently balanced stats and weapons. And yes, you can pick an all-Rabbid or all-Mushroom Kingdom team. Little things can make a big difference in these matches, and grabbing the optional power-ups (scattered across the map in question-mark blocks, of course) can swing the balance of a match by adding an extra action to a turn, buffing your attacks, and more."

The Versus Mode will be available December 8th for free!