Ubisoft has earned some goodwill after games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The company might earn more goodwill soon, as a job listing claims a new Rayman game is coming soon. Fans thought this franchise was going to be stuck in limbo, so a potential return is always good to hear.
Rayman’s return is good for everyone, as more platformers from AAA companies will make the genre more credible with gamers. It will be better if the character gets a new 3D platformer, since he hasn’t had a new one since his third game on sixth-generation consoles. His DLC appearance in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope doesn’t count.
It’s been too long since we’ve seen Ubisoft’s mascot with floating limbs have a solo game. The character has been stuck in gaming purgatory for years, with his appearance in the Sparks of Hope DLC finally sparking hope in some fans. Considering Ubisoft’s obsession with Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy games, it seemed like Rayman wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon.
The last proper game Rayman appeared in was Rayman Legends, which was an excellent 2D platformer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an immediate success, and the fact that it came out on the same month as GTA 5 didn’t help things. While the game did get a Switch port that helped with more sales, they weren’t enough to immediately greenlight a new game.
Now that 3D platformers are making a comeback after Astro Bot’s success, we think the man with floating limbs should be next. Many still consider Rayman 2 on Dreamcast to be one of the best 3D platformers of that generation. If anything, the return to 3D would bring this character back to his roots and capitalize on this genre’s popularity.
Aside from Nintendo’s powerhouse Super Mario series, mascot platformers will never be super popular again. That doesn’t mean they can’t be good, as Astro Bot has shown fans what can be done with this underrated genre of games. Sadly, these games aren’t always successes, as the excellent Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart shows, but the genre is still worth investing in.
Based on Ubisoft’s recent output, fans should be able to expect a Rayman game with plenty of quality. No one’s going to expect a huge open-world game featuring the limbless one, but a big 3D platformer with plenty of traversal will make people happy. At the least, it will make other publishers confident in releasing more 3D platformers, which is all we could ask for.
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