Yesterday was the day in which Rayman Legends was supposed to be released for the Wii U, one of the very first third party exclusives announced for the system. But that was before it was held back, despite being more or less finished, so it could be released alongside the just unveiled PS3 and Xbox 360 ports.
Many were incensed by such news, and are still upset to this very day. One such individual is Michel Ancel, who not only is the creator of the game, plus the father of Rayman, but is one of Ubisoft's most noted talents. When a protestor showed up outside his studio's gates, he went outside to pose for pictures and show his solidarity.
Well, yesterday was also when rumors began to flat around that Ancel might be leaving his home of over 23 years. According to GameSpot, based upon reports from its sister site Gamekult, Ancel is not just leaving by himself, but also taking with him a small team of fellow developers from Ubi.
Apparently these individuals are from the Montpellier, who are the folks worked on Legends alongside Ancel.
One's gut reaction that is that such a move might be in reaction to the whole Rayman Legends debacle, but further details from GameSpot/Gamekult paint a slightly different picture. Instead of a clean break, the publisher would instead be involved with the next project, and he would remain "tied to Rayman", as he is already.
Ubisoft in turn issued the following statement:
"Michel is currently hard at work with the rest of the Rayman Legends team and is committed to delivering an amazing and unique game for the Wii U, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in early September."
It’s worth noting that not once do they actually say if Ancel’s staying or not.
Even if he were to leave on friendly terms, it would still be a massive blow to the publisher. Both internally and externally, many have characterized as the man as essentially being to Ubisoft as Shigeru Miyamoto is to Nintendo. Try and imagine the man who gave us Mario and Link as a second party, independent contractor all of a sudden?
Whatever happens, lets just hope we get Beyond Good & Evil 2 when all is said and done.
