Michel Ancel, the designer behind the Rayman series of platformers and the critically-acclaimed Beyond Good & Evil, has founded a new studio called Wild Sheep. While working on his new venture, Ancel will continue to develop projects with Ubisoft Montpellier.
“We are fortunate to have some of the industry’s finest talents, including Michel Ancel, working with us at our studio,” said Ubisoft Annecy, Paris, and Montpellier managing director Xavier Poix in a statement to Game Informer. “In addition to spending some of his time on this new venture, Michel is leading the creative development of select projects at Ubisoft Montpellier, including an extremely ambitious new title that is very close to his and the team’s heart.”
There is no word yet on what projects Ancel will be developing with Wild Sheep or Ubisoft Montpellier. Many fans are no doubt hopeful that the title to which Poix alluded will finally be Beyond Good & Evil 2, which has been in development at Ubisoft for years. The original 2003 action-adventure game was a commercial failure at the time, but it was critically adored and has built up a cult following in the decade since its release as an under-appreciated classic.