Michel Ancel is incredibly busy right now working on Beyond Good and Evil 2, which was re-revealed at E3 2017. But despite having a lot on his plate at the moment the developer, who is best-known for creating the Rayman series, wants to return to the colorful platforming franchise.

In a post on his official Instagram account, the famed Ubisoft developer explained that he recently came across a statue of Rayman in a second-hand store. Ancel seemed to be quite moved by the statue, saying that Rayman looked "pathetic", "far from his time of glory" and appeared to be "looking ahead for help".

While it's understandable that Rayman's creator has such fondness for the character, Ancel went as far as to say that "we'll need to bring [Rayman] back again" for Rayman 4. Ancel wrote "don't let heroes die" with many fans agreeing with the sentiment, expressing their love for Rayman and saying that they are "excited" about the possibility of a new game.

The latest totally brand new Rayman game was Rayman Adventures which released in 2015 and has more recently been used as a Super Mario Run alternative. This year also saw the release of Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition, an updated version of Rayman Legends (2013) that released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch. So it's unsurprising why so many fans are interested in playing a new adventure from the limbless, cartoon hero.

But unfortunately, fans may have some time to wait until Rayman 4 actually becomes reality. Ancel's post also suggested that he wouldn't be bringing the character back until his work on (PS4 exclusive) WILD and Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been completed. No information about WILD has been revealed since 2015 while Beyond Good and Evil 2 development is at 'day zero'. While fans of those games have been waiting long enough and are obviously keen for Ancel to finish work on the games before moving on, those looking for a new Rayman game will be disappointed.

With that said, the wait for Rayman 4 could well be worth it. Although Ancel is known for his bolder and more outlandish game development ideas, he also has a reputation for leaving fans waiting, as shown by WILD and BGE&2. If work on Rayman 4 was to begin now then all three games could potentially take even longer to be released and may be poorer for it too. So even if Ancel's comments are a bit disheartening, ensuring that the eventual Rayman 4 is a fun take on the series is far more important.

Source: Michel Ancel - Instagram