I think that Ubisoft wanted more than a pittance of an audience to sell to.

Dissatisfied worker leaves company. Hardly news.

I'm sure Ancel will have fun working 80 hour weeks when he sets up his own studio. Or alternatively working under the exact same conditions he is working under now somewhere else.

That still doesn't sound like a difference in philosophy in promoting and distributing Rayman Legends. It sounds like frustration at the console not selling. Ubisoft have got to stop mincing their words.

But my question here still remains: Did Ubisoft honestly expect much more by this point in time? In the worst economy in decades, during a time where mobile gaming is on the rise and quite honestly drawing away segments of console gamers, with PC gaming becoming more and more affordable and also providing a siren's song for segments of gamers, as well as coming off the Wii phase where many "core" gamers turned their backs on the company (I know you're gonna hate that reference, Bankai, but you know darn well what I mean whether or not we agree with that label and their buying habits) the Wii U still managed to sell quite well through its launch (third-best opening numbers for a home console behind the Wii and Playstation 2). Nintendo sold something to the tune of 3.5 million, correct? Now, Rayman Legends was set to release in April, at which point Nintendo was predicting a 5.5 million userbase- the number has since been downgraded to 4 million.

Now, onto my problem with all of this logic. Ubisoft employs analysts just like any other company. An analyst's job is to analyze. You can argue that Nintendo was hyping a 5.5 million number, but an analyst's job is to disregard hype and play it by the book- by the numbers, by precedents, and by logic. There is no way that I will ever believe that Ubisoft thought the Wii U usebase was going to be that full 5 million by the time Legends came out. They would have known pretty early in the game that the numbers just weren't coming together as hoped, and this whole Legends laundry should have been aired out as early as December when main stream reports were already surfacing on lower Wii U sales numbers. I continue to hold to the fact that something happened internally in Ubisoft that caused a mishandling of this situation- something happened that we, the public, may never know. Whether it was simple hesitation at a higher level of the company or a small "push" lead by Ancel and like-minded employees, we may never know. Lending more credence is the fact that this isn't Ubisoft's only gaffe with a group of gamers in recent times- they've plyed their shenanigans with PC gamers before and I've lived through those hijinks time and time again. Notably delayed PC releses and Uplay as a draconian always-connected system (which has NEVER pleased gamers) are just a few of the most notable- and now the headlines on gaming websites are running the story about Ubisoft wanting to patch relations with the PC community. Well, it seems Ubisoft is wanting to patch relations with more than one community lately.

It sounds like Ubisoft is stretching themselves a bit too far to make up for loss in sales...

"Ditch your old friends to make new ones, and you'll end up losing both."

I'm sure he will too; especially if he has an enthusiastic team and a good project that will make him more or less independent.

[quote][quote=Bankai]

Ancel has been in the business long enough to know what he's getting himself into. And if it was Ubi's fault because of the Rayman delay, its good to see somebody stand up for something that they believe in. But its still a rumor for now and no one knows what is going on in this whole situation.

translation: I hope Ancel's life gets worse because I want to spite stupid fanboys on the internet.

alt. translation: Ignoring someone's interest in thinking art > easier money for no apparent reason.

your next post translation: backpedal

my next post translation: there won't be one, don't imply I care

translation: I hope Ancel's life gets worse because I want to spite stupid fanboys on the internet.

alt. translation: Ignoring someone's interest in thinking art > easier money for no apparent reason.

your next post translation: backpedal

my next post translation: there won't be one, don't imply I care

Actual translation - the people here who think Ancel's in for a better lifestyle by moving jobs are wrong. There's the potential for better job satisfaction (that's the "art" bit you're talking about there), but that aside, he's going to be doing exactly what he's doing now at another big corporate, or doing more for less money as an indie.

Good on him for sticking it to Ubi etc etc, but it's not like he's going to be treated any better anywhere else. He knows that, I'm sure. I wanted to make sure the people here didn't go getting the wrong idea that Ubisoft is somehow special and evil and such.

But my question here still remains: Did Ubisoft honestly expect much more by this point in time? In the worst economy in decades, during a time where mobile gaming is on the rise and quite honestly drawing away segments of console gamers, with PC gaming becoming more and more affordable and also providing a siren's song for segments of gamers, as well as coming off the Wii phase where many "core" gamers turned their backs on the company (I know you're gonna hate that reference, Bankai, but you know darn well what I mean whether or not we agree with that label and their buying habits) the Wii U still managed to sell quite well through its launch (third-best opening numbers for a home console behind the Wii and Playstation 2). Nintendo sold something to the tune of 3.5 million, correct? Now, Rayman Legends was set to release in April, at which point Nintendo was predicting a 5.5 million userbase- the number has since been downgraded to 4 million.

Now, onto my problem with all of this logic. Ubisoft employs analysts just like any other company. An analyst's job is to analyze. You can argue that Nintendo was hyping a 5.5 million number, but an analyst's job is to disregard hype and play it by the book- by the numbers, by precedents, and by logic. There is no way that I will ever believe that Ubisoft thought the Wii U usebase was going to be that full 5 million by the time Legends came out. They would have known pretty early in the game that the numbers just weren't coming together as hoped, and this whole Legends laundry should have been aired out as early as December when main stream reports were already surfacing on lower Wii U sales numbers. I continue to hold to the fact that something happened internally in Ubisoft that caused a mishandling of this situation- something happened that we, the public, may never know. Whether it was simple hesitation at a higher level of the company or a small "push" lead by Ancel and like-minded employees, we may never know. Lending more credence is the fact that this isn't Ubisoft's only gaffe with a group of gamers in recent times- they've plyed their shenanigans with PC gamers before and I've lived through those hijinks time and time again. Notably delayed PC releses and Uplay as a draconian always-connected system (which has NEVER pleased gamers) are just a few of the most notable- and now the headlines on gaming websites are running the story about Ubisoft wanting to patch relations with the PC community. Well, it seems Ubisoft is wanting to patch relations with more than one community lately.

To be fair an analyst could have looked at the success of the Wii at launch, noticed that the 3DS is selling well now (and thus assume that Nintendo's figured out how to not repeat mistakes next time) and come to the conclusion that 5 million for the Wii U is not unreasonable. Or the analyst could have looked at the launch line up of Nintendo's and assumed that there was potential for the Wii U to have a better third party attach rate, given it lacked the AAA-killer first party title. Considering the attach rate again blows, the analyst could have decided to recommend that Ubisoft run the hell away.

Point is - we don't have access to the data that Ubisoft's analysts would have access too. We can't assume that they failed at doing their jobs properly until we do - I'm not saying that they didn't screw up, it's entirely possible - but you and I aren't really in the position to arrive at that conclusion.

This proves that money is the root to all evil.

this.

@Bankai

I agree- we just aren't in a position to know. I was just spitballin' to present one reasonably logical perspective.

These Masterpieces need to keep being made

So if he needs to leave, to keep making them he should.