Yesterday's bombshell announcement that Rayman Legends is going multiplaform and will be delayed until September certainly ruffled a few feathers — you've already left us over 600 comments (and counting) regarding the news — and while many of you may be expecting some kind of reassurance from publisher Ubisoft, the official line is unlikely to soften the blow.
Digital Spy got in touch with Ubisoft public relations specialist Sarah Irvin for a statement, and she confirmed that development problems are not to blame for the delay — something which seems to be confirmed by stories that programmers are up in arms about the fact that a game they've been feverishly working on for the past few months is now no longer hitting its proposed release date — meaning that all of their crunch-time programming was for nothing.
Here's Irvin's full response:
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.
We've reached out to Ubisoft ourselves for a statement, but at the time of writing we've yet to receive a reply.
[source digitalspy.co.uk]
Comments 99
They sure could learn a lesson or two about integrity.
I feel sorry for the dev team.
I feel so sorry for those developers. Very dumb move by Ubisoft. Multiplatform makes sense and will get them more sales overall, but they'll sell less Wii U copies in September than they would now.
I hope they answer your mails NLife as Ubisoft has lost a lot of customers !
This is sad. They should at least release something between now and then. I'd shell out money for Beyond Good & Evil HD.
Everything she said sounds plausible, but then there were those cryptic comments about Nintendo making necessary changes to Wii U. Regardless, I think they're hurting themselves in the long run because there are a lot of Wii U owners dying for something — anything — to play right now. I suspect consumers will have many more alternatives when Legends finally launches in the fall.
I think if they had made this a timed exclusive, even for three months, everyone would be a lot happier. Ah well.
still no appoligy wheres the im sorry
Unless Ubisoft releases the Wii U version at least 3 months before the PS3 and 360 versions, I am boycotting buying new Ubisoft games and buying any DLC from them. They won't be getting my money for Assassin's Creed 4.
Everybody at Ubi needs to stop talking right now and give it a few weeks for the storm to pass. It's unfair but anything they say over the next few days, even if it's totally reasonable, will not be good enough for the pissed off Wii U owners.
Ubisoft should really apologize for they delayed the game twice and that second time was even worse for it was delayed just to compliment those PS360 people...
Because most of us don't have the attention span and memory of a moth, this is the statement that irritated me:
"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."
Reading this and seeing that recently Ubisoft didn't bat an eye releasing DLC for AC3 for the PS360 base and still no word on the Wii U front is extremely telling. The last statement should have read:
"PS3 and 360 owners are more important to us, it's the simple truth."
These faceless corporate men in suits are the kind of short-sighted money grabbing a-holes I despise. I wish they would all just die. Trust me, the world would be a better place for it.
@SilverLightning
The truth is an apology isn't really necessary, this is a game by a third party company and as such they're allowed to do what the want with it. Besides, what does a 'we're sorry' do? The game is still delayed 7 months.
I feel sorry for the developers, and now that I understand I truly feel sorry for Michel Ancel. But gamers have the right to make their choices too.
I can NO LONGER trust any third party and third party games when it comes to the Wii U. And after rewatching the Wii U Direct I don't even know why I cared for third-party games on Nintendo's console in the first place:
And Wii Fit U. And Wii U Party. And all the up and coming indie games. Ow, and I forgot to mention Fire Emblem Awakening and all that good good we have coming on the 3DS.
Now tell me: why should I bother to care? Why should bother to risk being deceived?
I'm buying Legends to support the developers... But I'm very disappointed with Ubisoft. I hope that they actually choose to learn from this if they actually do lose potential boycotted sales rather than blame it on the Wii U not having a large enough install base.
I'll be curious to see if Nintendo respond to this situation. Right about now a Nintendo Direct with news of all the wonderful 3rd party stuff that is still coming would be quite useful.
Any chance of moving Lego City up by a week?
@Everly and given that between the two consoles Microsoft and Sony have a worldwide instal base about 50 times as large as Nintendo with the Wii U, those consoles SHOULD be the priority for Ubisoft.
Do you people not understand that Ubisoft needs to turn a profit on Rayman or you will never see another Rayman game, or is this just another case of gamer entitlement. I.E "I am throwing a tantrum because I have to wait a few more months for a game, that needs to be multiplatform or the developer is going out of business"
can nintendo life email all 620+ comments to ubisoft to show them how many people got p*ssed off and how much of a tupid move the dealy was, it wont do much but it will show them how stupid they are
i buy from bargain box for about a tenner a week after it bombs big time.
I'm really expecting Lego City to come out on other consoles before the end of the year. They won't delay the Wii U version though.
Ubisoft is dead to most of us right now I think .. don't care about excuses or anything related, if we don't see that game on 28th of february in the stores, you can forget your nintendo fan base ..
@Bankai No one cares that it is multi-platform. No one cares that other consoles get it. A finished game sitting on the shelf for 7 months while owners have very little to play is the issue. Release the Wii U version now since it is done and release the other versions when they are ready. They do it all of the time when PS360 is first. Why do they want to avoid taking money from Wii U owners for 7 months during a time there is very little out there?
Ubisoft was Nintendos prime 3rd party support for the Wii U and at the beginning everything looked fine but now slowly but surely things are going back to the way it was on the Wii. Can't wait for the short and bad standalone versions of games for Wii U. Not much going the way of Nintendo these days. =(
I empathise with the development team. You can see they're devastated, especially with all their recent effort. Other than that, Ubisoft still seems to remain rather arrogant about the situation. This statement rectifies nor addresses nothing, and we could've gone without it.
chn.ge/XXXhlM
Well then, this is for the higher ups that are glued to their high horses.
Perhaps it will give them an idea of how petty they are making a move like this. A self-damaging one, at that.
It's always been like companies to kiss up to Sony and Microsoft, though it doesn't get less disgusting.
Such a move from Ubisoft. It's a smack in the face for both the devs and the fans it seems.
@Everly Very good point! Btw I'm pming you on Zen forums.
Just by looking at the comments, I can tell who has the ability to reason, and who feels rather than thinks.
Wow. Would probably have been better for them to keep that little detail secret.
I don't even understand the business point of view. This game would sell like MAD on the Wii U as an oasis in a release desert and would have little to no effect on a later release on other consoles.
It must be down to just advertising costs, but again, you can skimp on advertising when you are the only major release on a new console.
Confusing and frustrating.
Ubisoft should at least add NFC to the Wii U version, like what was shown on the first trailer
Doing this will lose ubisoft money, 7 months of wii u sales
Hey Ubisoft you will not earn money with PS360 but you will loose because these are Hacked and many people can get your games for free!!!!!!!!!! For the moment the Wii U is not hacked and no Wii U users will steal your money by downloding!!! All the wii u users will have to buy your Games to play them. THINK about that and let the game comes now. (sorry for my poor english I'm french ) To finish I will boycott your games like a lot of people (h)
@Everly said everything I think and what I've been saying lately!
Couldn't care less about Ubisoft and their games now.
Sorry Rayman, but unfortunetely you are in the wrong company as it seems.
Perhaps they should release digital for Wii U. They can think of it as early advertising for the Ps3 and 360 versions.
Honestly, the way the Internet perception of Wii U is right now, Nintendo should secretly per$uade Ubisoft to get this game out as originally planned. Then again, it would set a bad precedent.
@Tech101 Thanks for the heads up
@Wildfire Thanks man. It really does seem like such a double standard doesn't it?
It seems to me ubisoft needs Nintendo more than Nintendo needs ubisoft Rayman Origins was not a huge success on PS3 or xbox 360 , the series appeals more to Nintendo's fan base so all and all I'd say they just hurt theirselfs with the over all sells of legend, I know of four people that are now not getting this game because of their decision to screw the Wii U owners .
@Everly It sure does! We're the ones that always have to wait for the games or their low versions to come out, when the games come out at all. While the inverse can't happen. We're 2nd or 3rd class costumers so it seems!
Ubisoft, Ubisoft, Ubisoft...
I can understand the delay to avoid doubling up on marketing costs, but surely they have not thought through the fact that the gaming landscape will be very different in 7 months. Released in Feb this would have been a day one purchase for a lot of Wii U owners (myself included). Now, it'll be be a sad also-ran against Mario/Zelda/Pikmin for us and GTA and the other huge franchises on the PS360. Baffling.
The linked to dev article was a good read. I don't feel overly upset for them b/c I'm sure they got paid whether the game comes out or not and they chose to get into this business, but I do understand about working long hours and being away from your family, apparently all for naught.
At least Ubisoft admitted they chose to give us the shaft just b/c they felt like it so now all the guesswork can stop. And I think we should boycott this game. Somebody start one of those virginity pledge drives we can all sign so we don't buy this game in Sept. .
After teasing us with the excellent demo and then doing this. ubisoft are a joke.
Basically folks, they realized only a 1,000 people were going to buy this on Wii U.
By releasing it on 360/PS3, the sales might reach 3,000.
And if you don't believe me, look at the sales of Rayman Origins. People can cry all you want, but there aren't many people out there on any system that want this game. They are just wasting their time and money.
And worst part? It's a good game, but it's a silly looking character and no commercial push is planned I'm sure.
Ubisoft would not receive futher money from me
Feeling very sorry for the dev. I was never interested in the game anyway, but I wish now that I can support the dev without supporting the company
This confirms I and others were saying to the one or two who dared apologise for Ubisoft yesterday. This isn't about "entitlement" it's about the fact that you published a release date and went so far as to secure a slot in the eShop and launch a demo, finished the game and then needlessly delayed for a nonsensical reason. It's a slap in the face, plain and simple.
The only thing that could salvage the PR damage in my mind is an on-time release in the eShop with the delay only applying to the disc release. I expect this would also provide a decent gauge of the current appetite for retail downloads on the Wii U for Ubisoft software.
I'm not going to boycott Ubisoft as others have said, however I have a limited budget for games; by September I cannot guarantee I'll make Rayman my purchase whereas the end of February I'd most definitely have purchased this game.
I feel sorry for the developers as an anonymous poster has stated they completed the game and is ready to ship. The game would have been more of a success being released now than at the end of the year, when all the big hitters will be out. I'll doubt us Wii U owners will calm down soon over this matter if Nintendo life & Miiverse reactions are anything to go by
I was probably going to buy it to play in the mean time between Lego City but now there is no chance. Never buying an Ubisoft product ever again. Not happy.
It's been getting so much hype from just about every major gaming website for a long time now. Half of me wants it to fade into obscurity, which it most likely will do by the time it gets released, and the other half doesn't want Wii U owners to boycott the game because we are already hard done by when it comes to 3rd party games on Wii U, and it would only go on to prove that 3rd party games don't do well on Nintendo consoles. Which can be true, but with decision making like this coming from publisher execs, who can really blame Wii U owners for turning their backs on a game that is essentially finished, just so it can be released simultaneously on other consoles? Stupid reasoning. The Wii U version needs no major advertising. It has been pimped for such a long time, these new news stories has the game in the public eye. If Ubi released it as they were going to, it would not only save them from the bad PR they are getting, but it wouldn't need any major advertising. Wii U drought of games. Release Rayman. Sell games. Then go multi platform and sell more later.
So Ubisoft admits that they are doing what nobody wants them to be doing? The delay is even more upsetting now.
@Peach64 So, it's better to cater to one audience, rather than to be a successful business?
@drunkenmaster76 So, it's better to have 7 months of Wii U sales, rather than however many months of PS3/Xbox360 sales?
Probably the most uncaring, illogical decision Ubisoft has made. They could have made money from the 3 million people who own a wii u and the 7 months of wii u sales like @drunkenmaster76 said. And now those sales are probably going to be a lot lower than they could have been. Great job Ubidaft.
I hope they get screwed somehow.
What they've done to fans and their development team is outrageous.
Eh, gamers' convictions tend not to be as powerful as their weakness for shiny new things. As such, I don't see very many people pulling off a boycott for too long.
Still, this IS rather infuriating. What's even worse is that we'll probably have to listen to more blowhards in the media lament how "NINTENDO IS TEH D00MED" like we did for months with the 3DS before it really got going. People keep acting like a rough first year for a new console is a sign of imminent doom. It's annoying. Most Nintendo consoles I can remember have had a bit of a rough start. They've all been successes, to some degree or another
@SkywardLink98 No he said it's better to have 7 months of wii u sales, while the ps360 versions are getting finished, and then release those instead of completely avoiding how much money they could make over that time with the wii u.
In other words, they're stabbing fans and their employees in the back for no reason at all. I hope this crushes them. I hope this game flops hard.
If they add all the NFC,and online features that was revealed in the leaked trailer,then I'll forgive Ubi,I bet Ancel is peed off about it.
I would of figured this would be a special exception given the situation but I guess gamers who waited for the game patiently after the first delay and employee who put in the time and effort to make it on schedule this time are not special.
I can imagine the workers are more pissed then we are since we have the option to buy and play the game or not.
Don't see why people are sorry for the developers. Sometimes, you have to work overtime. Sometimes, that is rewarded, sometimes it's not.
You have to flow with the punches.
Secondly, @everyone who is complaining that the game was finished and now delayed 7 months,how do you know the game was finished? Because it has a release date?
@CDreams Exactly!
@Aviator: They've said themselves that the delay is for the sole purpose of having all three versions released at once, and there are no game development issues. If that's the only reason for the delay, how is it not ready to go otherwise?
@Aviator This article is about how they admit the game was finished... maybe you should try reading it.
You know something. I think that once everybody has cooled down, they not boycott Ubisoft and will still buy the game. I understand everybody's anger though and would probably be angry too if I had wanted the game. One reason Ubisoft might want the game to come out at the same time on all consoles is that price cut to $20-30 after 7 months Wii U game might not look good for the other consoles $60 games. (I'm not sure of that myself though, just a theory)
To me, this makes perfect sense. If they want to go multiplatform and delay the game so the they can do so in the traditional release fashion, I see no problem.
Of course the people that feel betrayed the most is us actual wii u owners who own the system and were eagerly waiting only wks away from a already delayed game. So understandably I am outraged as a wii u owner that ubisoft simply spit in our face and said screw Nintendo fans all over. And others could say we are being childesh or unreasonable but the fact is that we arent mad cuz of multi platform release we are furious cuz our wii u version is done and ready to ship. Ubisoft will not get a purchase from me for this game. I promise I will stay true to that and any other ubisoft games at that. Sorry to the dev team for ur wasted time but ubisoft will make dis game fail miserably. I really hope it bombs.
@Aviator. Did you not read the article. They just said that there is no development issues and that there is only one reason there delaying the game which is to release for multi platforms.
Why didn't they delay asassin's creed3 till the wii u version was ready? They said they usually release their platforms simultaneously. But when it comes to wii u, we're not important enough?
Makes me really glad I never bought zombie u or AC3
@Bankai
Do you not understand that Ubisoft knew the Wii U's install base would be a fraction of the competitors'? They originally promised Legends as a launch game, when there would literally be no install base at all. They knew what they were doing. If they wanted to take advantage of the PS3 and 360's obviously much larger bases, they shouldn't have promised the game to Wii U owners the way they did. There wouldn't have been any problem whatsoever if they had just made Rayman Legends a multiplat from the beginning. The fact here is that they promised a game to Wii U owners, delayed it, and now they're going to delay it for 7 more months, a few weeks before its release, just so PS3 and 360 owners can buy it at the same time as Wii U owners. That's not about money. That's called being a jerk.
I don't think it has anything to do with multplatform at all. I think its all about Ubisoft's beef with the Wii U being too high priced. I think he's trying to send the Big N a message.
I cancelled my pre order today, might as well have the money in my account. Im unsure if i will buy it now, if i do it will probably be when it drops in price. I was mainly buying to cover the gap in big releases between now and late spring, but I will just make do now and wait for lego city.
I still see no reason ubi couldnt have released the wii u version as it planned to and then just release the ps360 versions in september, whats the problem with that?
@triforcepower73 Same thing I was thinking.
On a lesser note they did the same with just dance 4 release a month later with missing dlc. They said they would release dlc for the game early December. It wasn't released until late January with no word in between about the delay.
@CDreams I am truly thankful for your contribution to this discussion.
@Aviator it's a sticky situation. It sounds like the studio that developed the game were as helpless as people on this site: they discovered that it would be delayed. Developers and artists work hard to meet deadlines, but since this game is to be delayed...they probably can't help but feel unhappy about this.
They're holding back a finished game multiple months just so they can shove it in us Wii U owners faces (that's how it feels anyway). Ubisuck!
What Sean_Aaron said.
Its not about multiplatform. Its about Ubisoft CEO and his anger about the Wii U price.
I completely agree with everything @Sean_Aaaron said. Most of the big publishers seem to be making bad decisions these days; Konami, Square-Enix, Capcom etc.
That's silly, delayed to go multiplatform? I guess they don't want it on this fiscal year.
"We usually release our games simultaneously"
Wasn't this supposed to be an exclusive? In which case said statement if bologna. Way to go back on your word. It should have been an exclusive for a little while, before the other ports came out. Congratulations Ubisoft here's your "most hated company of the month" award.
Yes, I expected the devs weren't to blame (having them work their fingers to the bone, before telling them was just cruel!).
It's all because of that overhead, administrative, garbage that goes on. In short, we (the ones who line their wallets), have to suffer as a result of their POORLY THOUGHT-OUT, LAST-MINUITE DECISION!!!
ok, I'm done venting. . . for now.
What garbage reasoning from garbage people.
Unacceptable.. a low blow indeed.
@Bankai Your logic is flawed. Something that can and will make money right now sitting in a room collecting dust will only hurt them. Exclusivity doesn't matter it's the fact that this game is finished and releasing for the platform it's ready on. They make the same amount per copy no matter what, so delaying wii u version only hurts nintendo. I see no way that Ubisoft can profit from spending all that money on development to wait over half a year for less return than you would see right now. Not to mention they are going to release near GTA V and probably a couple more great titles. Nintendo will be releasing WW HD in September too so kiss your Wii U sales goodbye...many more will buy Zelda especially after this useless delay.
I think my friend just figured it all out. They are taking this time to add characters and items to make the game work like Skylanders. Releasing it on all consoles at the same time would make sense for that.
Yep i aree that why keep noise from Ubi about delay if they cannot change the wiiu release.
No more bad excuses from Ubi less talk until they have something new to rayman release i even accept june release but not september.
By not buying it, you will just make Ubisoft further mistreat its Nintendo fan base. If more people buy it on Wii U, they will come to respect Nintendo.
Exactly. Everyone should buy this game because it is actually a fantastic game. But buy it on the Wii U if you have the option, not on the others. Though it's rather doubtful, if the Wii U sales surpassed or at least met the sales of the other consoles, Ubisoft might stop thinking their games will fail on the platform.
Son... I am disappoint.
I understand how some users say we should buy the game to prove the game will be successful on the wii u...
But honestly I really don't believe ubisoft deserves to be on my priority list ... If I feel like it I might buy it ..
Chances are they'll be other games available on my priority list
There really is no excuse for the delay. Multi-platforming isn't an issue and is fair for them to increase their sales but the delay. I've never been a Rayman fan (as you may know from my previous posts) but again I have to emphasise that the Rayman demo and hype has really got me wanting this game. With the delay until SEPTEMBER - Over 6months away!!! - I've just lost all interest. What had started as a day-1 purchase may now never grace my library. Just because of the 6month delay. They're losing so much business with this move it just doesn't make sense.
The Wii U release schedule sure looks alarmingly empty, what with around 25-30 games coming, most of them in the unforeseen future.
Great games coming up... at some point.
@Bankai This company will NOT be going out of business just because it goes console exclusive . They could just as easily make an entirely different rayman game for other consoles or none at all and still be fine . Or do you not think that they turned a HUGE profit on Assassins creed alone .
That's a terrible excuse. The game is ready to be released, Wii U gamers could have it as a timed exclusive, but they're holding it back to the end of the year for the other systems. That's just so frustrating.
I would much rather spend my hard earned money on wind waker HD which is slated to release in the fall . I'm done with Ubisoft they remind me of the sleazy used car salesmen that tells you "these are 50,000 original miles " when the reality is that it's been rolled back from 300,000.
I can only guess that Ubisoft assumes people will play, or rent the WU ver., & subsequently decide against getting the game for at least one of the other (hardware) platforms. Or, as some have said, maybe Ubisoft doesn't think the WU install base is large enough to make profits. Maybe even not large enough, yet sizable enough, to have reviews, & opinions of this game, (made) by (many/possibly more than enough) common/everyday gamers, who also happen to share their opinions about what games are great/poor/etc. online, & in face to face conversations w/ friends, & family who would otherwise be a potential customer for Ubisoft.
As for the "programmer", even the article that's linked from here, basically says the poster id was anonymous. So, I don't completely buy that poster being a programmer for Ubisoft. It could have been, or it could have been an elaborate online troll. Wouldn't be too hard, to masquerade on online forums as a programmer associated w/ any well known co.s. Even if it was real, programmers getting pushed to meet deadlines definitely happens a lot, & the same could probably be said for when programmers learn that their taxing deadline-must-be-met work, has been all for naught. It's just the gaming community doesn't hear about this sort of thing, too often.
As for me, I'm not a Rayman, or Ubisoft fan anyway. If I had to guess the most likely reason, out of what I suggested, I'd say, probably Ubisoft wanting to keep a currently small install base, from possibly ruining sales of the game from the larger install bases, by common opinions, esp. online social, which can spread an opinion far, w/ so little effort. Rather than issue an older newspaper to a large fan/install base, & watch people say, "Eh, I'm not interested after hearing such, & such about it", they(Ubisoft) would rather the smaller install base gets it when the large, more profitable ones do. In theory, this guarantees the game will be spotless upon release to the bigger target here(the install bases of the other consoles.).
Not buying it because of this..
They have the game ready for WiiU and have just admitted to being total ducks, that's what I heard anyway. Well, I guess I'll be skipping this game altogether then.
The delay is idiotic, and it will hurt them in one way or another.
And whether or not they have the power to evaluate this properly - without just thinking "see it's always nintendo consoles selling badly" - is also up to their own competence.
There is one solid factor in the gaming market, though, and that is definitely nintendo. So they'll see, wrong or right, in time.
Silly ubisoft.
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