Rayman creator hopes to take franchise to next-gen consoles

Michael Ancel, the creator of the Rayman franchise and director of the upcoming Rayman Legends, has hopes of bringing his beloved franchise to next-gen consoles. When asked about the idea, Ancel praised the social abilities of the Xbox One and PS4, explaining it could "make the experience interesting."

"When you think about [how] the social thing on those consoles [will] enable you to record yourself, send your movies, your tricks, your tips — everything that could make the experience interesting," Ancel told us.

"For example, you already have these kind of things on the Miiverse on the Wii U, and you can extend that experience with the PlayStation 4 system that enables you to share what you're playing with your friends," he explained. "Especially for the challenges, because when other people want to beat the score of others, you can share your tricks, and you can make others interested in what you share."

Rayman Legends is currently slated to release on current-gen consoles and the Wii U (which falls somewhere in between current- and next-gen, I suppose). The challenges he's referring to, however, are part of a standalone app that offers daily and weekly challenges to compete with friends and players online. The mode is the first time Rayman has offered an online feature and depending on its success could spark a whole new type of gameplay experience on next-gen systems.

The Rayman Legends Challenges app was released on the Nintendo eShop for free on the Wii U as a peace offering for the game's delay, in which it was also brought over to Xbox 360 and PS3.

GameZone's interview with Michael Ancel regarding Rayman will be posted in full this weekend. Be sure to stick around!