So horribly they made a sequel and an incredibly popular iPhone/iPad/Android game out of it, thus increasing awareness of the series in a big way. Why do I think it will sell better? Because now people know of the series and know of its quality. Going into Origins people were surprised at the reviews and how great the demo was. Now people aren't surprised that a Rayman game will be good.
What makes you think that because people paid for iPhone apps, they are willing to pay full price for a 2D platformer?
A comparison could be Sonic Colors that restored good faith in the Sonic brand; but did Generation sell better?
The only difference, however, is that Rayman games never were known to be bad games; specially Ancel games weren't known to bad games, quite the contrary; however, they were games that just didn't sell.
Now people are actually anticipating it (witness the epic meltdowns in this thread). As many people with Wii Us that were awaiting it, there will be many more anticipating it on other platforms. If you're expecting an Origins-esque launch bomb as some sort of infantile karma swipe at Ubisoft for making a business decision, prepare to be disappointed.
This is mere speculations on your side;
There are several signs that lead to this game not selling well:
- 2D platformer
- Very long gap between announcement, PR, marketing and release
- Release date in a comparably poor time of the year
- Release date at the end of life cycle of the target platforms
- Release date before the launch of next generation
- Release date after E3 and among major AAA games
They are just things that have high correlations with poor sales; however, I would like to see what other examples you have of someone doing a move like this, and actually receiving good sales.
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And of course, even if it sells better, it should be much more enough to compensate for:
- 6 months of delay in cash flow, further development cost, and especially marketing
- Damage to public relationship and brand faith
