Yesterday, we reported on a rumor that Ubisoft is looking into making a remake of the first Rayman. Ubisoft has made an official statement in response to this.
As reported by Kotaku, Ubisoft shared this statement via email:
“We are pleased to confirm Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have recently started an exploration phase on the Rayman brand.
The project is still in its early stages, and we will share more details later.”
They also shared comment on the rumored involvement of Rayman creator and veteran game developer, Michel Ancel. They only said this:
“As creator of the Rayman brand, Michel Ancel is being consulted to ensure consistency within the universe.”
Ancel is best known for producing the first Rayman, working on most of the games in the franchise and putting Ubisoft on the map. He was also known for having made the critically acclaimed Beyond Good and Evil, and the video game adaptation of Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
A week after announcing his retirement from the industry in 2020, French newspaper Libération published a report drawing Ancel into the still ongoing controversies at Ubisoft.
We want to be clear that Ancel was specifically accused of fostering a toxic workplace, and that there are no allegations of sexual misconduct. In particular, employees alleged his management style involved criticisms so harsh that those below experienced exhaustion and burnout. Ancel has also gone on record to deny this report.
It’s certainly unfortunate that this is the veteran game designer that Ubisoft is now looking to for help in reviving the franchise he created. Even before Ubisoft’s controversy, the Rayman franchise had fallen by the wayside in favor of spinoff franchises. In particular, the last original Rayman game, Rayman Legends, released all the way back in 2013.
On the other hand, the last Rayman spinoff, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, released in Nintendo Switch 2 years ago and did not meet Ubisoft’s sales expectations. That game’s underperformance seems to have prodded Ubisoft to consider going back to the main franchise.
Of course, the third elephant in the extremely crowded room here is that Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is only one of many Ubisoft games that did not sell up to expectations in recent years. While game companies regularly deal with failure and success, Ubisoft simply saw too many failures and disappointments pile up.
Today, there is serious talk that Ubisoft’s Guillemot family will be bought out by TenCent and other shareholders. With all this uncertainty, Ubisoft’s developers are desperate to come up with games that they are certain will be successful.
And that’s why, after over a decade, Ubisoft is seriously thinking about making a new Rayman game again. It remains to be seen how this project will play out. Based on the allegations, Ancel himself might eventually become the reason this game fails to come out.
But we do hope for the best for Ubisoft’s developers. Maybe their path back to success and stability is by giving Rayman fans what they want.
