Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends announcement yesterday came as a sort of one-two punch to the face of Wii U owners. In addition to losing the game as an exclusive to Nintendo’s new console, they were also informed that it was also being pushed back to September from its original February 26th launch date. Many suspected that the Wii U delay was the result of the game going multiplatform, unfortunately, those suspicions have now been confirmed by the publisher.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Ubisoft’s pubic relations specialist Sarah Irvin confirmed that the Wii U version of Rayman Legends is completed and the only reason for the delay is to allow for a multiplatform release.
Irvin’s exact statement reads:
“There are no issues with the game development. All of the information was in the press release, the only reason for the delay is to release on multiple platforms,”
“We usually release all of our platforms simultaneously (aside from PC). We’ve made special exception sometimes in the past but it’s definitely just on a case by case basis and not our standard practice.”
“In this case, Ubisoft recently decided they wanted to release the game on multiple platforms so the decision was made to launch them all at the same time rather than separately.”
“I know it’s not an elaborate, ‘convincing’ answer, but it’s the simple truth.”
As irritating as this news is for Wii U owners (and rightfully so), the only silver lining is that the Rayman Legends development team seems to be equally irritated by the decision.
A poster on the Elotrolado forum, who is believed to be an Ubisoft employee, expressed his dismay over the decision to take delay Rayman Legends on the Wii U and asked that fans not take their frustration out on the development team. According to a NeoGAF translation, the employee said:
“I completely understand you but you have to understand one thing. This is not a decission taken by the development team, this comes from really really high up, so please don’t pick on the game.”
“If you’re pissed, imagine how we feel. Think on the situation, we’ve been making overtime with this game practically since May preparing E3, and then almost a demo per month (gamescon, Wii U presentation, shops, eShop, etc…) and at the same time trying to actually finish the game. We had a first delay because it was obvious we couldn’t finish on time but we gave it all to be there on February. What face do you think we had when the week we had to close the game we’re being told it’s not going to be released? I couldn’t believe it.”
“For practical matters, you’ll have to wait for some months for the game to be released and will most likely serve for more content to be added and do it better. For us, this means we’ve spent 6 months barely seeing our wifes, kids, and friends for nothing because, after all, such a haste wasn’t needed. Believe it, it was a hell to swallow these news.”
“Even then I’m firm in what I said back in the day, Rayman Legends is an excellent game and will still be, and the team that’s making it doesn’t deserve to have your back turned on them just because some men in ties one day took a wrong choice. This industry is really that s***ty”
Unless Ubisoft changes their minds, Rayman Legends will now release sometime this September on the Wii U, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Let us know in the comments what you think of the game’s delay and new multiplatform status.
