Ubisoft Milan – the studio behind tactical RPGs Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – had apparently pitched a third game in the Mario + Rabbids series. However, this pitch was ultimately turned down by Ubisoft. The Game Business co-founder Christopher Dring has noted that the development team behind the tactical RPG series has been mostly disbanded.
“It’s worth noting that the Mario + Rabbids team have largely disbanded,” said Dring. “Although Ubisoft Milan still exists, the people behind that game have gone and formed a new studio. I know they had pitched another title that didn’t get approved. I don’t know why but it just never happened, which was again, I think, tied to Nintendo.”
The third game’s pitch being turned down and the team largely being disbanded might have led Ubisoft Milan to start working on a new Rayman game. Job listsings were spotted back in May with Ubisoft Milan looking for a 3D gameplay animator and a senior game designer that indicated that the studio might be working on a new 3D title that would fall under the “Rayman brand”. While the listings had been taken down quickly by Ubisoft, they can still be spotted on the Internet Archive.
“Ubisoft Milan is looking for a Senior Game Designer who will work on the Rayman brand,” said one of the listings. “The ideal candidate has a proven and solid experience as Game Designer in the videogame industry with in-depth understanding of how to define, prototype and implement game systems within the scope of the project and following the Game direction, making sure to capture the gameplay feel, while still being fun and accessible.”
Outside of the Mario + Rabbids series, the Rayman brand has largely been dormant at Ubisoft. The Rabbids themselves were spun off from older Rayman titles where the characters first made their debut. However, a report from back in October indicates that Ubisoft might be looking the Rayman series back in the form of a remake.
According to the report, a remake of one of the older Rayman titles is seemingly at work, involving developers that have worked on side-scrolling metroidvania title Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, alongside developers at Ubisoft Milan. Rumours also indicate that Rayman creator Michel Ancel is serving as a consultant on the project. However, there have been no details revealed yet about which Rayman game will be the subject of the remake.
Ubisoft confirmed that a new Rayman game might potentially be in the works through a statement shortly after the aforementioned report came out. In its statement, Ubisoft said that its Montpellier and Milan studios have started “an exploration phase” on the Rayman brand. The company noted that the project was still in early development.
The last mainline games in the Rayman franchise were side-scrolling titles Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends. Both titles were praised at the time for their art direction and solid gameplay, as well as their use of rhythm-based musical stages. For more details, check out our reviews of Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends.
