Former PlayStation Exec Explains Why Michel Ancel’s Wild Was Canceled

Back in 2014, Sony unveiled a sneak peek of Wild, an expansive open-world game exclusively for PlayStation, created by Michel Ancel, the mastermind behind Rayman. For years, development on Wild continued until its cancellation in 2021, seven months after Ancel left the video gaming sector. Recently, Shuhei Yoshida, a former Sony executive, expressed his opinions regarding why Wild was ultimately shelved.

During an interview with MinnMax, Yoshida shared that there were numerous excellent concepts for the game, but they didn’t fully come to life within the game structure. He described it as a very open-minded approach, and one of the initial ideas involved the map size of the game being as large as all of Europe.

According to Ancel’s concept, Wild would have been set during prehistoric eras, where players assume the role of a character endowed with shaman-like abilities that allow them to manipulate animals. Smaller creatures could be employed for reconnaissance on other tribes, while larger ones could be controlled by the player as a guide towards achieving specific tasks or goals. Animals might also aid the player in conflicts against opposing tribes.

After Ancel stepped down, Ubisoft launched an investigation into claims that he fostered a toxic work environment for his colleagues at the company. Ancel refuted these accusations, and no disciplinary action seemed to be taken against him. Interestingly, Ancel was brought back by Ubisoft as a consultant on the upcoming Rayman game in progress. The next installment of Rayman was unveiled towards the end of 2024, but Ubisoft has yet to announce a release date for it.

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2025-02-04 00:39