Lead: Ubisoft and developer Digital Eclipse will release Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition on February 13 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC at a $19.99 MSRP. The package centers on the original 1995 Rayman and aggregates five platform builds—PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, MS-DOS, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color—plus an unreleased Super Nintendo prototype. The release adds 120 new levels, a reimagined score by Christophe Héral, accessibility options such as rewind and infinite lives, and an interactive documentary with roughly an hour of interviews and archival materials. Ubisoft markets the collection as a preservation-focused celebration rather than a full modern remake.
Key Takeaways
- Release date: February 13, 2026; platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC; price: $19.99.
- The collection includes five historical builds of the original 1995 Rayman: PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, MS-DOS, Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color.
- A previously unreleased SNES prototype is included and described as “never-before-playable” in the announcement.
- New content: 120 added levels and an updated soundtrack by Christophe Héral, the franchise’s longtime composer.
- Quality-of-life features: rewind function, optional infinite lives and invincibility toggles for accessibility.
- Bonus material: an interactive documentary with about one hour of interviews, unseen concept art, sketches and design documents curated by Digital Eclipse.
- Positioning: billed as preservation and celebration rather than a ground-up remaster; original game versions are presented with historical fidelity.
Background
Rayman debuted in 1995 and quickly became one of Ubisoft’s signature platforming franchises. The original title shipped across multiple platforms in the mid-1990s, each port reflecting the technical and design constraints of its host hardware. Over three decades the series expanded into sequels and spin-offs, and Rayman remains a reference point for 2D platform design and nostalgic gaming communities.
In recent years, publishers and specialized studios have increasingly packaged historic titles with archival materials and multiple builds to preserve and contextualize game history. Digital Eclipse has carved a niche in this space with collections that combine playable versions and documentaries, positioning these releases as both playable products and curated museum-style presentations. For rights holders like Ubisoft, the approach balances fan service, preservation obligations and commercial opportunity at a modest price point.
Main Event
Ubisoft’s announcement, co-published with Digital Eclipse, describes Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition as a compilation that brings five contemporaneous versions of the first game into one product. Rather than applying a comprehensive modern remaster, the collection offers those historical builds alongside extras: a recreated soundtrack, additional levels and accessibility toggles. The inclusion of an SNES prototype is a headline item; the studio says this version was previously unplayable in public.
Digital Eclipse contributed the documentary and curation work, collecting interviews, concept art and design documents to illustrate the game’s development story. The studio’s past projects—such as other archival compilations—follow a similar pattern of pairing playable history with recorded developer recollections. The package also lists 120 newly added levels, which expand the playable content beyond the original game’s scope.
From a delivery standpoint the release is priced at $19.99 and will appear on current-gen consoles and PC. The announcement highlights features intended to broaden accessibility: rewind mechanics, the ability to enable infinite lives and an invincibility option. Those toggles are presented as optional aids rather than default gameplay changes, preserving the original difficulty for purists.
Analysis & Implications
Commercially, the $19.99 price positions the collection as an impulse purchase for nostalgia-driven players and collectors, while undercutting the cost of many modern re-releases. Bundling multiple platform builds compels owners who remember a specific port to revisit alternate versions, increasing perceived value without requiring a full-scale remake. For Ubisoft, this is a low-to-moderate-risk way to monetize legacy IP and keep Rayman visible between larger franchise projects.
From a preservation perspective, aggregating five historical builds plus an SNES prototype strengthens the cultural record for game historians and fans. Presenting original binaries rather than a single homogenized remaster preserves differences in level design, performance and audiovisual presentation that are informative for scholars and enthusiasts. The documentary material further contextualizes design decisions and development constraints from the mid-1990s.
However, the choice not to fully remaster core assets means the release will not satisfy players seeking a modernized visual or mechanical overhaul. Instead, Digital Eclipse’s approach targets archival authenticity and curated extras. The added 120 levels and reimagined soundtrack complicate that positioning: they introduce new content that sits alongside preserved builds, raising questions about how new and old content will be integrated in menus and progression.
Comparison & Data
| Included Build | Original Release Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation | 1995 | Primary 32-bit console build many players recall |
| Atari Jaguar | 1995 | Less common port with distinct limitations |
| MS-DOS | 1995 | PC-specific controls and audio differences |
| Game Boy Advance | 2001 | Handheld adaptation with altered levels |
| Game Boy Color | 2000 | Early handheld port with palette constraints |
| SNES prototype | Unreleased (mid-1990s) | Previously unplayable prototype included as archival item |
The table highlights the package’s historical spread across hardware generations. Presenting multiple builds emphasizes platform-specific differences; players can compare how level layouts, audio and performance varied by platform. The addition of 120 new levels raises the total playable content substantially compared with standalone re-releases of original titles.
Reactions & Quotes
Ubisoft framed the release as a celebration and preservation effort, noting the compilation’s archival intent and extras. Reactions from fans on social channels were mixed between excitement for the SNES prototype and questions about technical fidelity on modern hardware.
“A celebration of 30 years, bringing multiple classic builds and archival materials into one release.”
Ubisoft (official announcement)
This statement accompanies Ubisoft’s product positioning and marketing materials. Digital Eclipse emphasized the documentary and curation work as central to the project’s value proposition.
“We paired playable builds with a documentary and unseen assets to tell Rayman’s origin story.”
Digital Eclipse (developer statement)
Community response on launch-day threads ranged from nostalgic praise for the soundtrack work to technical concern posts asking about performance on Switch. Those user reactions typically focus on emulation quality, frame-rate stability and input latency on different platforms.
Unconfirmed
- Whether the SNES prototype is feature-complete or requires emulator-based fixes has not been independently verified.
- Details about cross-save, bundled DLC or platform-specific performance optimizations were not disclosed in the announcement.
- The exact implementation of the 120 added levels—whether integrated into original progression or as a separate mode—remains unspecified.
Bottom Line
Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition is a preservation-minded compilation that packages multiple historical builds, a rare SNES prototype, new levels and documentary content at a modest price. For historians, longtime fans and collectors, it offers access to platform-specific variants and archival materials that are otherwise scattered or unavailable.
Players seeking a full visual overhaul or modernized mechanics should temper expectations: this release prioritizes archival value and curation over a comprehensive remaster. The success of the edition will hinge on emulation fidelity, the integration of new levels with original content and how effectively the documentary frames Rayman’s development story going into the franchise’s fourth decade.
Sources
- Game Informer — media report on the announcement and features.
- Ubisoft — official publisher (company news hub for official statements and product pages).
- Digital Eclipse — developer/studio (archival compilations and documentary work).