The delay of Rayman Legends came as a surprise to everyone, but it was understandable as the game was being retooled for the Xbox 360 and PS3. If the game wasn’t finished, why bother releasing it early, right? Well, as it turns out, the game was finished, and the delay was only because Ubisoft wants to release it across all platforms at once.
After that particular bit of news came out, gamers came out of the woodwork demanding answers. Twitter and Facebook both exploded with fans wondering why Ubisoft couldn’t just release it for Wii U now, and the other platforms later. There was also some concern that the delay may ultimately hurt Rayman Legends’ chances at retail. Here’s a sampling:
.@Ubisoft My entire family was very excited for Rayman Legends. Will you do me a favor and please release the Wii U version this month?
Someone just pointed out to me that Ubisoft delayed Rayman Legends to the same month as GTAV. Yeah, good going!
Struggling to understand a good business reason for delaying wiiU Rayman Legends until September.
Given Ubisoft’s commitment to launching Rayman Origins at the worst time of the year for it, the Legends delay *is* at least consistent.
Facing mounting pressure from gamers, Ubisoft decided to issue a response to quiet things down a little bit. The publisher apologized for the delay, and offered another demo to hopefully help quell the Wii U gamers who are understandably frustrated by the delay.
We are working with the development team to provide you with a new, exclusive demo for the Wii U soon. Stay tuned for more. Powered by socialditto
124 likes · 440 comments
Now, a demo is little recompense for what many Wii U owners see as a slap in the face. In fact, it seems to have made gamers even angrier. Here’s a few select comments from after the announcement:
“We don’t want a new demo! We want the game on the day it was supposed to be released, it’s already finished!”
“My interest in the game will only go back go MUST BUY if the game is out by the end of March. September is too far to maintain excitement, I’ll have other games to buy and play by then. No demo will change that.”
“Yes that’s right Ubisoft just rub more salt in the wound. A demo just makes people more and more angry. The game is done so just release it. You have a perfect opportunity for some sales. It’s like you actively do not want to make money.”
As expected, fans have also taken to popular petition site Change.org, which is usually reserved for petitioning on behalf of human rights, to ask for the game to be released for the Wii U in February.
Regardless, it looks like Wii U owners will have to wait alongside everybody else for Rayman Legends. Too bad all those potential PS3 and Xbox 360 players will be too busy playing Grand Theft Auto V to notice.
[h/t: Nintendo Insider]