Cancel culture sucks.
I believe that Michel Ancel was hard to work with -- from all the other information I've heard from devs, I have known this to be true for quite a while. But after reading the article, Michel's response and with various information I've heard throughout the years I will conclude that this reaction from the Rayman community is mostly unwarranted.
Furthermore, I agree with Michel Ancel's reply that it is suspect to say the least that this article is being tied to the sexual harassment scandal that is plaguing Ubisoft while it has nothing to do with that. I've seen people on Twitter react with "Ancel is an abuser fml" or shit like this, and I find it so frustrating to see all this misinformation being spread.
So that everyone is properly informed, here's some information I know of along with my interpretation of this drama:
Michel has tried to leave Ubisoft multiple times in the past because he wanted to work in a smaller team.
From all the interviews I've read and translated for you guys in the past, my best guess is that the reason behind this is probably his "auteur" attitude -- i.e. how he tries to manage each team member and ensure everyone is on the same page concerning the vision of the game, and everything they make is in line with that vision. Imagine having to do that in a bigger team; that can't work well.
Here's a reconstructed version of events:
2010:
Beyond Good & Evil 2 Cancelled - Michel Ancel has left publisher Ubisoft to start his own studio
In 2010, after BG&E2's first cancellation, he tried to leave Ubisoft to create his own studio. In multiple interviews (in l'Histoire de Rayman and I believe in the Masterclass) has Ancel mentioned that this BG&E2 project failed because there were difficulties in working with larger teams.
Somehow,
that studio ended up still being part of Ubisoft, and they worked on Rayman Origins.
From various interviews we know that Rayman Origins was a way to escape for him, a "vacation" from bigger projects, and
a way to work in a smaller team again.
2013:
Ancel Leaving Ubisoft - "Ancel has already give notice that he is leaving and five or six developers from Ubisoft Montpellier are prepared to leave with him"
After Rayman Legends, he wanted to do the same thing, again to work in a smaller team. A few people were ready to leave with him. They did, and created
Wild Sheep Studio.
However, as we all know,
Michel stayed at Ubisoft as well. Don't you think that's strange, working at two companies at the same time? You should. It's pretty clear what happened:
Ubisoft negotiated with Ancel and gave him various benefits so they would not lose the man that made them famous. Among other things, they greenlit a sequel to Michel's personal dream project, BG&E, and allowed him to work on it at his own pace, even if it's just 2 mornings a week... yeah, that can't be good for either Ubisoft or Wild Sheep Studio.
Meanwhile, the scale of the BG&E2 project kept increasing.
2017: As an attempt to make Ancel's "auteur" attitude work in these big teams, and to manage the teams while he is away, Ubisoft added in a second creative director, leading a team of "opponents" for Michel Ancel
who would push back against all of his decisions and make sure he doesn't change too much from his initial vision. As mentioned in the article, this team of "opponents" was created with the full trust of Serge Hascoët (the main sexual harasser from the recent allegations). The new creative director and main "opponent" was also the creative director of Ghost Recon, which is very much unlike what Michel Ancel was aiming for with Beyond Good & Evil. How could Ubisoft's management not see that this was creating further problems?
Can you imagine trying to make your dream project and having to fight for every tiny decision you make? It sounds... extremely frustrating. Ancel confirms that the relationship between them was not amicable. Sadly, it seems Ancel took out this frustration on the team and ultimately just decided to stop because of it. The frustration of the team is totally understandable, and yes, it is a result of Ancel's behavior... but I believe that that in turn is
a result of Ubisoft's management's decisions. In his poorly formulated Instagram response to all this, Michel Ancel seems to imply that this is indeed the case:
Michel Ancel wrote:I am not managing the team. I bring a vision and producers and managers decide what to do , when and how. They are powerful people in the making of such a big projects. Why don’t the journalist speaks about them?
And really, how do you suppose he would manage the team if they are only present two mornings a week (and since 2019, never)?
Note: I think Ancel isn't "innocent": he should have left Ubisoft in 2013 or should have left when the team of "opponents" was established. Instead he stayed and let himself play a big part in this toxic environment.
But instead of persecuting him, why don't y'all persecute Ubisoft's management, that caused all this?
Can someone with an account put a direct link to the post instead?
