''Wild'' is a cancelled

survival game Survival games are a subgenre of action games which are often set in hostile, intense, open-world environments. Players generally start with minimal equipment and are required to survive as long as possible by finding the resources necessary t ...

developed by Wild Sheep Studio and

Ubisoft Paris Ubisoft is a French video game publisher headquartered in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Montreuil, founded in March 1986 by the Guillemot brothers. Since its establishment, Ubisoft has become one of the largest video game publishers, and it has ...

and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

. The game was announced in 2014 and had infrequent updates during development, with the game eventually being rumored to be cancelled after game director

Michel Ancel Michel Ancel (; born 29 March 1972) is a retired Monégasque-French video game designer. He is best known for creating the ''Rayman'' franchise and was the lead designer or director for several of the games, including ''Rayman Origins'' and its ...

retired from the game industry in 2020, making it a

vaporware In the computer industry, vaporware (or vapourware) is a product, typically computer Computer hardware, hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is late, never actually manufactured, or officially canceled. Use of the w ...

game. As of 2024, the game is no longer in development, as editorial duties were transferred to

and never finished.

Gameplay

''Wild'' is set during the prehistoric

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period in a

procedurally generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. I ...

world. Within the game world, the player controls a human and can use smaller animals to spy on others, or larger animals to support the player and their tribe in fights with other humans. Animals can be controlled by using

shamanic Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spiri ...

powers - once "possessing" an animal the gameplay moves to the point of view of the controlled creature, and then proceeds using the skills and characteristics of that animal.

Development

''Wild'' began development in 2014 at Wild Sheep Studio, a developer based in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

founded by

from

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

. Initial plans for the game included a very large, continent-sized

open world In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the Gamer, player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Notable games in this category include ''The Legend of Zelda (video game ...

, dynamic weather complete with seasonal variations, online play, and the ability to play as any wild creature in the world, including wolves, sheep, fish, ants, cats, birds, etc. A gameplay trailer for the game was shown at

Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as ''gamescom'') is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 ...

in August 2014 and then at

Paris Games Week Paris Games Week, or simply PGW, is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France. It is organised by SELL (''Syndicat des éditeurs de logiciels de loisirs''), a French organisation that prom ...

in October 2015, where the developers released a new gameplay trailer and a film about the production of the game. Due to the lack of updates during development, many journalists considered the game to be

by 2020. In September 2020, Ancel announced his retirement from the gaming industry but added that development on the game would continue without him. In July 2024, creative director Steven ter Heide confirmed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that the game was no longer being actively developed at Wild Sheep Studio. In December 2024, Ancel clarified that editorial duties were transferred to

, owing to

's connections to him, after Wild Sheep Studio had spent time converting it to the

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

; this proved to be its undoing. Development under Ubisoft's feedback had deviated from the original playable build in 2018 to the point it did not resemble it in any way, and the studio's

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

controversy led to it being properly abandoned. Sony attempted to convince Wild Sheep Studio to return to their development duties but could not do so due to contracts with Ubisoft, quietly cancelling the game.

References

External links

* {{Michel Ancel games Action-adventure games Cancelled PlayStation 4 games Cancelled PlayStation 5 games Multiplayer and single-player video games Open-world video games Prehistoric people in popular culture Sony Interactive Entertainment games Survival video games Video games developed in France Ubisoft games Video games about animals Video games about witchcraft Video games set in the Stone Age Video games using procedural generation Video games directed by Michel Ancel