Ex-PlayStation Exec Reveals Ambitious Development Process Behind Canceled Game Wild

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Summary

  • Shuhei Yoshida sheds light on the cancelation of Wild, citing the ambitious development process.
  • Wild’s massive scope led to development challenges and eventual cancelation.
  • Ubisoft’s takeover of Wild’s publication, amidst an internal scandal, worsened development woes for the open-world game.

Originally acclaimed as a major exclusive for PlayStation consoles, the open-world game “Wild” that Sony had once trumpeted has now been canceled, and Shuhei Yoshida, former president of PlayStation Studios, has shared his thoughts on this decision. Although Yoshida’s statements don’t offer much optimism for the resurgence of “Wild” in the future, he sheds light on its development process, suggesting that some of the challenges it faced stemmed from its ambitious nature.

Initially slated as an exclusive for PlayStation 4 more than ten years ago, Wild was a significant open-world venture from Wild Sheep Studio, led by Michael Ancel, the creator of the widely acclaimed Rayman platformer series. However, its development eventually came to a halt following a change in management. Initially, Sony was set to publish the game as a first-party exclusive, but Ubisoft stepped in to take over publication duties due to the management shift.

In a recent interview with MinnMax, Shuhei Yoshida, former head of PlayStation Studios, shared some insights about the challenging development process behind the game “Wild”. Yoshida mentioned that one of the reasons for the ongoing issues and ultimately the cancellation was the incredibly ambitious scope of the project. At one point, they were considering an open-world map as expansive as all of Europe, a feature he believes may have been too much to handle.

Former PlayStation Boss Breaks Silence on Wild

It was said that Wild was striving to become one of the largest PlayStation games, competing with titles like Horizon Zero Dawn. However, Yoshida suggested that some of Wild Sheep’s ideas were challenging to execute effectively or too grand in scale to fit within the game. He did not elaborate on these ambitious concepts or how they might have manifested in the game, thus leaving many questions about Wild unanswered and unexplored.

Michael Ancel, the primary developer of the game, previously expressed his thoughts on the cancellation of “Wild”, suggesting that Ubisoft’s management of the project may have led to its struggles during development, similar to the ongoing delays in releasing “Beyond Good and Evil 2”. Originally, Sony was supposed to publish the game, but Ubisoft later intervened midway through to take control, resulting in a new leadership for the “Wild” team.

After Ubisoft assumed publishing responsibilities for “Wild“, it was embroiled in a significant media controversy due to sexual harassment accusations, triggering a corporate reorganization. According to Ancel, this event further complicated the game’s already challenging circumstances. Since then, Ubisoft has been grappling with ongoing difficulties, including some of its more recent games not meeting sales targets and “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” experiencing two delays within a few months as the company strives to regain the trust of fans and investors.

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2025-02-05 01:44