Ubisoft boss talks Rayman Legends delay: "Wii U was not going to sell enough"

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has defended his company's decision to delay high-profile Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends and turn it into a multiplatform release.

Rayman Legends would simply not have sold enough on Wii U, Guillemot told GamesBeat, so the decision was made to hold the game back and launch it simultaneously alongside new PlayStation 3, Vita and Xbox 360 versions.

"What happened was that we saw the Wii U was not going to sell enough of those games," Guillemot explained. "The game is going to be fantastic, and we didn't want those creators to wind up in a position where even after making a fantastic game, they didn't sell well enough.

"We decided that we had to come out on enough machines that players can try it out on any one that they have, and give more time to both improve the game on the Wii U and create versions for the other consoles."

Nintendo fans reacted in outrage at the decision, flooding social network Miiverse with complaints and launching a protest outside the game's studios, which Rayman creator Michel Ancel appeared in.

Ubisoft later launched the game's Challenge mode for free as a standalone Wii U app, designed as an olive branch for aggrieved fans.

"I think it was the right decision for gamers and for the team," Guillemot continued. "My role is to make sure that the team is happy with the quality of the work they do and the reach they can have. The quality is there now, because they had more time. They've expanded the possibilities of the game. It's much bigger content-wise. I think it will be one of the best games we've ever done."

Rayman Legends will finally arrive in the UK on 30th August.