There are a few games that get revealed at glitzy game shows before disappearing, never to be heard from again. All that’s left behind is a trailer full of promise. WiLD was looking like it was going to be one of those games; since its announcement in 2014, we’ve seen very little of the game. As spotted by u/xselene89 on Reddit, a recent job listing at Wild Sheep Games seems to suggest otherwise, inviting a senior gameplay programmer to join the WiLD team.
The person joining the team would need to have worked on “at least one open world or 3D character action title” and have “experience with working in domains like AI, animation or 3C”. Other than to add the candidate would work with “proprietary technology with a large existing codebase and toolset”, the listing gives very little away about the game. It’s only through obscure sources like job listings we can even tell that the game is alive, with a list of 11 vacancies letting us know the title was still in development in 2018.
WiLD was originally revealed at Gamescom in 2014. The online survival adventure game will be set 10,000 years ago when humanity and nature stood an equal chance of survival. The wilderness features real creatures combined with the fantastical, living skeletons roaming the land with humans, wolves and boar. Players begin as a child, learning about the world around them, although eventually every single creature will be playable. Creator Michael Ancel further described the game as “the size of Europe, with dynamic weather and seasons, and filled with interactive opportunities that feel endless.” Further gameplay was shown off at Paris Game Week 2015, but since then we’ve faced radio silence with just a single offscreen image at the start of 2017 to prove the game still existed.
We’ve been continuously promised more news by Ancel with development described as progressing well, yet there has been nothing aside from the aforementioned job listings, the renewal of the WiLD trademark in 2019, and a stealthily updated game website. Ancel has now retired from gaming altogether, leaving just before he was accused of toxic behavior and poor management whilst working on Beyond Good and Evil 2 at Ubisoft. The team at Wild Sheep Studio seemingly continues onwards without him, but when we’ll next hear or see anything concrete about the game remains to be seen.
