When thinking about PS4 exclusives throughout this generation, big AAA games like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Bloodborne instantly come to mind. With only two major exclusives left before the arrival of the PlayStation 5, there's one yet to be released but yet to be canceled PS4 exclusive game that most have entirely forgotten about: WiLD, an open-world survival game announced all the way back in 2014.
Until new concept art was released last month, WiLD hadn't been seen or heard of in almost a year, and there's been no gameplay footage shown since Paris Games Week in 2015. Developer Wild Sheep Studio has been fairly quiet for a long time, likely a result of the game's director and Rayman creator, Michel Ancel, taking on a director role for Ubisoft's upcoming Beyond Good & Evil 2. Which begs the question: Is the long-dormant PS4 exclusive WiLD still alive?
WiLD is being developed by Wild Sheep Studio, an independent studio located in Montpellier, in the south of France. Wild Sheep Studio was founded and would be led by Ubisoft veteran, Michel Ancel, with Ancel also continuing his work at Ubisoft Montpellier, another studio he previously founded that's behind games like Rayman, Beyond Good and Evil, and Valiant Hearts.
The team first announced WiLD during Gamescom 2014, a procedurally generated open-world survival game and PS4 exclusive set in the prehistoric Neolithic period. Players take on the role of a shaman which they control from a young age and will be able to possess different animals in the wild to help their tribe survive in the wild. Alongside the first-look trailer, Michel Ancel shared screenshots for WiLD and spoke about the team's plans for the game, which at least initially, had involved online play, a continent-level sized of Europe, a dynamic weather system, seasons, and the ability to control all sorts of animals from bears to wolves, sheep, ants, and more.
WiLD was shown off once again at Paris Games Week in 2015, showing off the open-world, eagle gameplay, an opposing tribe, and a cool boss fight against a mysterious snake woman. However, in the years since the Paris Games Week gameplay trailer, WiLD has entirely dropped off the radar, with little more than a couple of unsubstantial appearances every couple of years that led many publications to believe the game is nothing more than vaporware.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced during Ubisoft's E3 2017 presentation with Michel Ancel assuming a director role for the sequel. Since then, WiLD has received a new Sony trademark in March 2019, new concept art on the game's Facebook page twice in May 2019, and more new concept art on Wild Sheep Studio's website just last month. More importantly, developer Wild Sheep Studio also advertised for a fixed-term programming role back in February this year, an ad that is still currently being shown.
When WiLD was first revealed to the world, many believed that the game would be eyeing a 2015 release window, maybe 2016 if development needed a little more time. However, when the studio went silent for the entirety of 2016 and director Michel Ancel was announced to be working on Beyond Good and Evil 2 the following year, doubt began to sink in. Which brings back the first question: Is the long-dormant PS4 exclusive WiLD still alive?
It's impossible to say for sure. However, based on recent updates in the past couple of months, it appears to be alive and well. One thing that's likely changed is which console Wild Sheep Studio is developing WiLD on. At this point, it's probably too late to release the game exclusively on PS4. Without any real marketing or hype from its fans, it's been almost half a decade since the last real showing and most players have all but forgotten its existence. The PS5 will likely be the center of attention moving forward. Wild Sheep Studio is still working, it's still hiring, and it's yet to make any other game announcements since its inception. WiLD is out there, somewhere, and it seems possible its future is on PlayStation 5.
WiLD is in development for PlayStation 4.