The original Rayman is the game that put Ubisoft on the map. It’s been over a decade since the last installment in the colorful platformer franchise, but the French publisher is currently in the “early stages” of exploring what will come next for the series’ titular limbless hero.
“We are pleased to confirm Ubisoft Montpellier and Ubisoft Milan have recently started an exploration phase on the Rayman brand,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft told Kotaku in an email. “The project is still in its early stages, and we will share more details later.” While a new Rayman might not be ready for some time, the upcoming project seems to be more than just an “exploration” at this point.
Ubisoft’s statement came after Insider Gaming reported that a Rayman remake, codenamed “Project Steambot,” is in early development, and that former members of the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown team were moved to this new project after a sequel to that game was cancelled amid disappointing sales. Insider Gaming also reported that the original creator of Rayman, Michel Ancel, was consulting on the project, a move which rankled some developers at Ubisoft due to the former director’s reputation for toxic leadership.
“As creator of the Rayman brand, Michel Ancel is being consulted to ensure consistency within the universe,” the Ubisoft rep told Kotaku. The company declined to clarify precisely what his role on the project is and whether his involvement was a request of the studios involved or a decision imposed on them by Ubisoft management, including CEO Yves Guillemot, a long-time friend of Ancel’s.
The director, who had also previously been heading up Beyond Good and Evil 2, left the company in 2020 amid accusations of bullying fellow developers and being difficult to work with. He denied the allegations at the time, though Kotaku understands that there’s some lingering internal distrust among some employees over how the issues with Ancel were handled by the company.
We haven’t had a new Rayman since 2013’s Rayman Legends, the series fifth installment, which received critical acclaim and went on to sell nearly 5 million copies across all platforms, including the Wii U and PlayStation Vita. While a remake of the 1995 Rayman wouldn’t technically be a new game in the series, it would probably feel like one given the transformation the PlayStation 1 game would likely go through to revitalize it for modern audiences.
And honestly, Rayman fans would take whatever they can get at this point. The character’s last appearance was in DLC for the Nintendo Switch’s Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, an excellent XCOM-style spin-off of a Rayman spin-off that nevertheless failed to meet Ubisoft’s internal sales expectations. That game was also made by the company’s Milan studio, which is reportedly leading development on the Rayman remake, and whose creative director left earlier this year after 25 years of service to start something new.
