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[Joeshabadoo]

How I see it

oh right, you know the only magical scenario in which the game can be profitable. A Sept release is much more of a game release minefield than late Feb. That is just fact. This game will NOT get very much attention at E3 this year, which will be dominated by the huge big shiny fancy next gen titles. If this game dies, releasing in Sept will only serve to aide in that

 

[Doctor Decimate]

Ancel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZovvjqSLPU

 

[evangd007]

Wii U sales have been low, small install base ...... ubisoft made a business decision.

Wait until more sales of Wii U and the 360/PS3 versions are done and pay for one marketing campaign.



Releasing it now makes no sense in the face of the Wii U and disappointing sales.

Yeah, let's let those E3 demos, the kiosk demo, the e-shop demo, and releasing the game in a dead period go completely to waste. Even if you make the "business decision" argument, its tough to justify because it's a bad business decision. Rayman will not have anywhere near the exposure that it does right now in September.

All the more reason not to waste the hype surrounding the title on the release on a single platform I think

Delaying it wastes the hype by definition. Especially when the hype in the fall will surround GTA V, Pokemon, Orbis, and Durango.

 

[Hiltz]

Rayman's release is pretty screwed no matter when it comes out. Release it now and it had some big games to compete against between February and March. Release it in Fall and it has even steeper competition, including Nintendo's own titles like Wind Waker HD. Maybe Ubisoft should have gone with a digital release for the title for Wii U owners right now.

 

[kirblar]

This is actually sort of a genius solution. Basically a soft launch now on the eShop, with the retail U release coming alongside the PS360 versions (with extra content?) in September. It'd placate both the angry Wii U base and frustrated dev team, it'd avoid invetory/pricepoint risks that could've brought down the PS360 release later, it'd require little in the way of promotional expenses (this whole delay saga arguably brought more attention to Legends than anything else so far) and given the "on disc" language in Microsoft's cert guideliness it might circumvent that even.

It solves nearly all the problems here.

eShop is a very bad solution for a game that no-nothing parents and relatives need to be able to buy on the shelves for kids.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Origins sold 50k across 3 plataforms during the first month.

this one, Wii U only... mega bomba written all over it. Ubisoft did the only logical thing.

I dunno. Sonic All-Stars Racing didn't crack the top 20 for its release month in the NPD in 2010 (it was behind Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics, which was five months old at the time), placing it under 100k. The sequel sold 230k on the Wii U, according to Sega's financial report.

Not that I necessarily think Rayman would be totally different, but it's not as simple as the last game bombing, ergo the next game would be an even worse bomb.

 

[FunnyBunny]

If someone can objectively prove to me that Legends would have bombed on Wii U in February, and Ubisoft wasn't just buying into Wii U doom and gloom sensationalism for a three month old console, then I will stop saying that this isn't a huge fuck up on Ubi's part.

No one can prove that. One way or another.

Ubisoft is simply basing its business decision on data gathered during the past three months. And if you haven't noticed, WiiU hardware and software sales have not met expectations.

The game would have sold fine. There were plenty of people who were picking up a Wii U for this game, and it would've had decent legs going into summer.

Just as there is no way to prove the game would have "bombed," there is no way to prove it would have sold well if released right now and had legs entering the summer.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Are these devs fucking idiotic.

Do they want there game to sell literally thousands now, or maybe hundreds of thousands / couple of million in a few months time.

Fucking delusional.

Wii U version would do better now than it will in September.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Cool to see, not that it will do anything but piss their bosses off.

They already lost my sale by delaying it to the time period of launch of new consoles and GTA V. Gonna be savin' my pennies. Meanwhile my Wii U remains buried under 6 inches of dust.

6 inches of dust?! You need to play fewer games and start doing some housework. Yuch!

 

[wsippel]

How I see it:


scenario A:

+ release the game now for Wii U
- game is a financial disaster
- studio closes
- everybody fired
- no more Rayman

scenario B:

+ release the game now for Wii U
- release it later for PS3 & 360, at a lower price
- two marketing campaigns
- game barely makes a profit
- many people are laid off
- no more Rayman
- back to uninspired movie-games

scenario C:

+ already 7 more months of employment
+ a shared marketing campaign
+ game is profitable
+ studio remains in business
+ everybody keeps their jobs
+ more Rayman games


Why wouldn't you choose C ?

Because the game has no competition and a lot of exposure now, and will have a lot of competition on all platforms and very little exposure in September. They could possibly sell more on Wii U alone now than on all platforms combined later in the year.

 

[Tobor]

This is actually sort of a genius solution. Basically a soft launch now on the eShop, with the retail U release coming alongside the PS360 versions (with extra content?) in September. It'd placate both the angry Wii U base and frustrated dev team, it'd avoid invetory/pricepoint risks that could've brought down the PS360 release later, it'd require little in the way of promotional expenses (this whole delay saga arguably brought more attention to Legends than anything else so far) and given the "on disc" language in Microsoft's cert guideliness it might circumvent that even.

It solves nearly all the problems here.

According to John Harker, only 2% of Wii U sales are digital. Combine that with the low install base, and it isn't worth Ubi's time.

Now if this was the Vita, where 15-20% of sales are digital, that makes more sense.

 

[Maxrunner]

Being honest here:

if you told me 1 year ago that a fucking RAYMAN game would be heralded as Wii U saviour in the US then I would've sent you to the shrink.

Times, they are a changing.

This just shows in what ways third parties screw Nintendo platforms. It shows how specially MS screws things big time.

 

[Ranger X]

Calm down people. This is called viral marketing.

 

[Leon S. Kennedy]

Pretty pathetic for a development team. If I was the CEO, I'd let them go after they were done.

asshole

 

[OryoN]

A slightly different thought just occurred to me...

There was a time when developers held the power over their product's development. They operated out of small offices/studios or even their own homes. Every day was crunch-time but it fun-time because they were doing what they loved, and more importantly, they were in total control. Then entered the guys with money - publishers. On top of forcing strict development times, having say in what content to make release date, etc, they hold developers' creativity hostage. This/that idea isn't popular, that type of hero isn't appropriate, this/that is the current trend, etc. It's easy to think; "There's no way developers are this powerless!" Of course, not all devs are, but many are still caught in that vacuum, and this Rayman fiasco may be the most recent example.

I'm glad this turned out to be a lager issue that goes beyond a typical delayed game, because it IS a lot more than that. Whatever comes out of this situation it hope it stirs up developers in the industry to establish certain boundaries with publishers to prevent a situation like this repeating itself, and at least attempt to gain a reasonable degree of control throughout development. Even if devs are still at the mercy of publishers, new boundaries hould firmly be set, realizing that publishers need developers just as much.

 

[Betta Lines]

Scenario D:
+ release the game now for Wii U
+ game is profitable

 

[BruiserBear]

Calm down people. This is called viral marketing.

lol

 

[Retro_]

Delaying it wastes the hype by definition. Especially when the hype in the fall will surround GTA V, Pokemon, Orbis, and Durango.

Fair enough

I just tend to think there's something I'm not seeing when business decisions like this are made and give them the benefit of the doubt

Especially when I have no precedent to really mount my prediction on either way for a unique case like this

 

[zroid]

Lol, utter drivel.

Anti-Wii U consumer, sent to die ........ it will die if released on the Wii U now ...... has bad business written all over it.

I sense the Wii U version would perform better if released now than in September. It has less competition, especially first-party competition than it will later, and it's one of the more highly anticipated (and hyped, thanks to multiple demos) launch window titles. If pushed back, it will be buried; the larger installed base will ultimately not help, IMO.

 

[Palette Swap]

Calm down people. This is called viral marketing.

I'd actually be amazed if Ubi decided to finally not delay it and it actually turned out to be a marketing stunt. Stockholm Syndrome meets Conspiracy 101.

 

[HitokiriNate85]

Pretty pathetic for a development team. If I was the CEO, I'd let them go after they were done.

Haha, yeah, that'd be a great idea.

 

[Pie and Beans]

If someone can objectively prove to me that Legends would have bombed on Wii U in February, and Ubisoft wasn't just buying into Wii U doom and gloom sensationalism for a three month old console, then I will stop saying that this isn't a huge fuck up on Ubi's part.

Third party sales of top games in Europe, and the UK especially, are so dire you're looking at figures like COD selling >300 units a week. This is the reality of the situation, and no amount of bullheaded protest is going to make a business want to shit money away. Publishers have even more indepth figures and theyre eye opening. There is no point in releasing third party WiiU exclusive games right now.

Releasing in September gives the WiiU a chance to up its base after some Nintendo-hitters, as well as launching at the same time on consoles with gigantic bases. One marketing campaign, no copies peeking out of bargain bins to dissuade purchase, its clear market sense.

Playing the dev-team for fools on a rolling crunch is the only despicable thing thats occurred here, but thats not what this "release the game now"-movement is about. A better campaign would be "Give the devs a 1-month paid holiday you cruel taskmasters" but then thats not what most "outraged" people are after here is it.

 

[Roxas]

Fucking delusional.

Wii U version would do better now than it will in September.

Don't be daft, the Wii U will have a larger install base by then.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

 

[Joeshabadoo]

According to John Harker, only 2% of Wii U sales are digital

making digital the only option (for a limited window) will clearly increase that figure

and LOL at Roxas and 'a couple million' HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA wow

 

[Calamari41]

I don't see why Ubi was ok with this game launching with the Wii U, which would have had an install base of zero, but launching when the install base is over 2 million (more than half of which bought NSMBU) is a deal breaker.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

I'm glad this turned out to be a lager issue that goes beyond a typical delayed game, because it IS a lot more than that. Whatever comes out of this situation it hope it stirs up developers in the industry to establish certain boundaries with publishers to prevent a situation like this repeating itself, and at least attempt to gain a reasonable degree of control throughout development. Even if devs are still at the mercy of publishers, new boundaries hould firmly be set, realizing that publishers need developers just as much.

Jesus Christ... These people are EMPLOYED by the publisher!

 

[gashikunFLCL]

What's so hard about waiting? Like I mentioned before, it's not as if the game was done then canned.

Not really, I'd just go elsewhere and not return, no matter how badly I wanted to eat that - I'd go eat something else, somewhere else. What rights do I need there? What's being violated? If you don't like it, don't buy it.

Looks like you understand too me...

 

[Spieler Eins]

Are these devs fucking idiotic.

Do they want there game to sell literally thousands now, or maybe hundreds of thousands / couple of million in a few months time.

Gonna bomb on PS360 anyway. Could have been cult hit on Wii U now that nothing else is out and after it has been hyped by Nintendo, so early adopters have a title to cling on. Not gonna happen in 7 months, when Nintendos gonna already have their big hitters too.

Dumb business decision from Ubisoft's suits that didn't think it through.

 

[thefro]

Don't be daft, the Wii U will have a larger install base by then.

What's stopping Rayman from selling all the way from now until September?

 

[BruiserBear]

Don't be daft, the Wii U will have a larger install base by then.

Yeah, and those people can buy it then for $40.

 

[gutter_trash]

ah Ubisoft Paris Editorial is at it again

 

[Amalthea]

Those dirty lowly workers. How dare they to speak up against their superiors. What a bunch of commies!
jk

 

[grimshawish]

What's stopping Rayman from selling all the way from now until September?

With few game releases? Not much.
Thats what I originally thought the point in the release was.

 

[slightconfuse]

Civil WAr in UBiisoft

 

[jimi_dini]

Where exactly would he work? I'd imagine he doesn't want to up and leave for Japan or the US.

In Germany at Nintendo Europe.

Ancel, do it. I want Rayman x Mario.

 

[Zoramon089]

Bingo.

That makes no sense

 

[Doc Holliday]

Don't be daft, the Wii U will have a larger install base by then.

And the game will still be in store shelves when all those new shiny customers buy a Wii U system.

 

[mclem]

Ubisoft is simply basing its business decision on data gathered during the past three months. And if you haven't noticed, WiiU hardware and software sales have not met expectations.

Data they wouldn't actually have had if they'd met the original release schedule.

Y'see, that's the other somewhat puzzling factor. This was originally intended for release soon after the console launch. If they were willing to release it with no sales figures to work on and into the rush of all the launch titles, why would they be reluctant to release it into a period with no competition?

(As an aside, but a corollary to that: I can't help wondering if it's more profitable to release *within* a launch rush so you get sales from it being launch but have more competition, or a bit afterwards so you miss the run of "what should I get with the system" rush but also miss the competition)

If they hadn't failed to meet the original schedule, the game would be out by now.

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

Woohoohoohoooooo! Thinkin' ahead's what GAFfers do best!

 

[Linkhero1]

Are they really protesting? Nice gesture but it seems as if they're just playing off Wii U fan emotions.

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

Haha. Seriously.

 

[Neiteio]

This is hilarious. XD

 

[Ranger X]

I'd actually be amazed if Ubi decided to finally not delay it and it actually turned out to be a marketing stunt. Stockholm Syndrome meets Conspiracy 101.

Same here. I would do it if I was them.

 

[Brazil]

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

Hopefully a lot. People who think like this deserve to get called out all the time.

 

[Corto]

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

I laughed at this. Very much. Thank you. I owe you some laughs now.

 

[Dueck]

"Let's send out Rayman Legends to die against the holiday blockbusters!"

Here's a novel idea: release it on Wii U now, and the others in September. It will only benefit sales.

 

[kirblar]

Man, how hard is this "It's just business, they know better than you" stuff going to come back and bite people in the ass in other conversations?

I see a lot of this working out only if this is the last discussion you ever plan to take part in on GAF.

In this case, many of us are seeing the same horrific sales data coming out for the Wii U and are coming to the same unfortunate conclusion re: sales expectations for the system.

 

[jet1911]

Don't be daft, the Wii U will have a larger install base by then.

This game will tank hard in septembre. GTAV, Madden, next gen console hype, etc... Rayman will be buried under all this. Right now there's nothing big releasing on the WiiU until LEGO City.

 

[Exterminieren]

Rayman's release is pretty screwed no matter when it comes out. Release it now and it had some big games to compete against between February and March.

Not on Wii U, it doesn't.

 

[FunnyBunny]

What's stopping Rayman from selling all the way from now until September?

C'mon now.

Few if any games sell high numbers for months on end. Even major blockbuster releases such as Call of Duty get the bulk of their sales during the first 6-8 weeks.

Have people forgotten the franchise we're dealing with? Origins sold 50,000 copies during its first month on shelves across three platforms.

I love Rayman. But it is not a AAA franchise.