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Rayman Creator Michel Ancel Says He’s Quit Video Games to Open a Wildlife Sanctuary – IGN – IGN


Michael Ancel, creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil, has said he’s leaving the world of video games to open a wildlife sanctuary – but assured fans that work on Wild and Beyond Good & Evil 2 will continue without him.Posting on Instagram, the director wrote: “Today is very special for me. After more than 30 years, I’ve decided to stop working on video games and fully focus on my second passion : Wild Life ! My new project takes place in the real world and consists in a wild life open sanctuary dedicated to education , nature lovers and … wild animals.”

Addressing his currently ongoing projects, Ancel reassured fans: “Many of you might want to know what will happen to Wild and BGE2. No worries, since many months now the teams are autonomous and the projects are going super well. Beautiful things to be seen soon.”Wild was first announced in 2014, with Ancel setting up a brand new studio to create the open-world PlayStation exclusive. It’s been very quiet for a long time, but we saw the game get an unexpected art update earlier this year as the developer continues to hire for the project.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 was also first announced in 2014, but wasn’t officially revealed until E3 2017. The incredibly ambitious RPG sequel to the cult classic original aims to offer “a seamless multi-planet world populated by dynamically-generated characters, with unique stories being told and optional social interaction throughout.”

In an update on Beyond Good & Evil 2, senior producer Guillaume Brunier wrote: “For years, Michel imparted his creative vision and helped us remain faithful to BG&E’s incredible universe. His uncompromising passion pushed us to redefine what was possible in crafting an expansive, multicultural, and futuristic science-fiction world. As we move forward, we are all committed to remaining true to this vision.”An Ubisoft press release also pays tribute to the director:

“Today Ubisoft announces that Michel Ancel has chosen to leave the video game industry after an exceptional career spanning more than 30 years. A nature-lover, Michel has been working on a personal project dedicated to the protection of wildlife for a long time. This project, a wildlife sanctuary in the region of Montpellier, France, is now growing in scope, and he wishes to put his full effort into this longstanding passion.

Michel is at the origin of some of Ubisoft and the video game industry’s most beloved franchises, including Rayman, the Raving Rabbids and Beyond Good and Evil, whose second opus, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development. The teams at Ubisoft Montpellier are currently focusing on the main stages of production, aligned with the vision set out by Michel. They will have more to share with their community of fans in the months to come.

We would like to thank Michel for the incredible creative vision he has brought to Ubisoft over the course of his career, and wish him all the best for this new venture.”

Ancel rose to fame as the creator of Rayman, and has helped create every mainline game in the series, going on to helm Beyond Good & Evil and the video game adaptation of Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

We’ve contacted Wild Sheep Studio for comment.

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.





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