Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was something of a smash hit when it launched last year; after initially being disappointed at the sight of early leaks of the game, fans soon realised that a near-masterpiece was being introduced, bringing Mario and those pesky Rabbids together to create a fun turn-based strategy experience. Now a large chunk of DLC is just around the corner, and it looks set to please fans all over again.

Speaking with Eurogamer at E3 this year, creative director (and E3 2017 hero) Davide Soliani has gone into detail about the new Donkey Kong DLC, as well as what the future may hold for the series. Originally, this DLC was going to be a much smaller experience, but the overwhelming positivity from fans drove the studio to create something much bigger and bolder.

"We reprioritised ourselves. It was going to be a small experience, two to three hours, one world. But in the end, it is almost half of the main game. In the main game you have 27 minutes of cinematics. DK has 20. In the main game you have four worlds, this is one but it is as big as two. It's 10 hours of gameplay. We've put everything in - all our passion."

When asked about Ubisoft's plans for Mario + Rabbids in the future, Soliani confirmed that plenty of ideas are still circling around the studio, yet to be used. As you might expect, he wouldn't confirm whether or not we'll see more from the franchise for certain, but we're certainly remaining hopeful.

"We still have loads of ideas. We used one tenth of the ideas. But now the DLC is done... what I can say is we are working out, for the future... [pauses] who knows!... We need time to work on something which makes sense. We are taking that time to see how it goes. You need time to think what you can do to bring something new for players."

The Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Donkey Kong Adventure DLC arrives on 26th June (or 25th June for season pass owners). Make sure to let us know if you'll be joining DK in his latest adventure with a comment below.