This one stings. Both in the heart and in the feels. Ubisoft announced today that Rayman Legends, the Wii U exclusive that would be shipping later this month, has been delayed until September. It will also release on Xbox 360 and PS3.
The reason for the delay? Undoubtedly, it’s so that Ubisoft Montpellier can develop the other versions so that the game can release simultaneously. This is great news for those that don’t own a Wii U. For those that do, however, the Rayman Legends delay is a bitter pill to swallow. Here’s the reasoning straight from Ubisoft:
“We heard from many Xbox & Playstation owners and Rayman fans who told us they really wanted to play Rayman Legends on their current system”, says Geoffroy Sardin, EMEA Chief Marketing & Sales Officer. “We decided to give the fans what they wanted while at the same time broadening the audience exposed to this innovative and memorable game.”
The delay undoubtedly halts any sort of momentum the Wii U would have going into the spring and summer months. Rayman Legends, along with titles like Pikmin 3, continue to get pushed back out of what was once a day one release. Sure, there’s still Lego City Undercover, but this was going to be a third party game published by the third party itself. Games like Lego City, Bayonetta 2, and The Wonderful 101 are all published by Nintendo themselves.
The press release didn’t mention how, or if, the Wii U’s GamePad features would be transferred to the Xbox 360 and PS3, but we’d imagine it’d be done through Kinect and Move respectively. Whether or not it’s just as fun remains to be seen.
Truly a sad day to be a Wii U owner. Whether or not this becomes a sign of things to come remains to be seen. For now, third party support remains better than the last generation with titles like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Injustice Gods Among Us still coming for Nintendo’s HD console. But if the support isn’t there in terms of sales, Nintendo will need to carry the strength of their own console.
