If I were to mention the name Beyond Good & Evil, chances are, the reactions amongst people may be polarising. They might recall playing the original game on PS2, Xbox, GameCube, or PC. Some people may not have heard of the franchise before, shaking their heads obliviously having no idea what the game is. In my experience, the reaction I have come to know best is one of confusion and perhaps a morsel of sadness. Why is this? The answer is because of the state the franchise has been in since the original game. The tale of Beyond Good & Evil and its unreleased sequel stretches multiple console generations. It is not just the console generations we are talking about. It has been an excruciatingly long journey to get where we are today. Along the way, it appears we have gotten nowhere near close to Beyond Good & Evil 2. However, I do not think this is the case at all.
Beyond Good & Evil was developed by Ubisoft and was released in 2003. Michel Ancel, the game director, had previously created the Rayman franchise with Ubisoft and was looking to start work on a new IP for the next console generation. Ancel’s initial plan was for Beyond Good & Evil to be the beginning of a trilogy, allowing him and his team in Montpellier and Milan to create a deep, layered world. The trilogy meant he could expand the world with every game.
Ancel’s protagonist was not a fantastical character with missing limbs who could shoot projectiles from his fist and hover with his ears. Instead, the game tells the story of Jade, a reporter. Alongside Pey’j, her best friend and father figure, Jade joins a resistance group to expose a conspiracy on Hillys, their home planet. This threat affects their home and the rest of the galaxy.
When Beyond Good & Evil was released, it received critical acclaim. The game was shown at E3 2002 but was not initially received well. Ancel went back to the game and refined the mechanics and character designs. What he and his team created was fantastic. For anyone who has not played Beyond Good & Evil, we now have the 20th Anniversary Edition for modern console systems. For a small price, you can now play the cult classic game and see the epic story yourself. There is a brand new mission added to the game, delving deeper into Jade’s past. The intention is for this mission to not only be a worthy addition to the already fantastic game but also to establish continuity between this game and the release of Beyond Good & Evil 2.
As great as Beyond Good & Evil is, the game did not perform well when it came out. It was considered a commercial flop for Ubisoft, especially compared to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, released in North America on the same day as Beyond Good & Evil. This must have presented a problem for Ancel. His magnum opus was now a contender against another game. Ironically, The Sands of Time was made by Ubisoft and spawned a series of sequels over the next decade. It seems as though the company he worked for was doubting his efforts and was unintentionally sabotaging his project.
Due to the commercial performance of Beyond Good & Evil, Ubisoft was hesitant to follow through with Ancel’s original vision. His planned trilogy was seemingly in tatters. At the time, it seemed that 2003 would be the final year that the world would consume content from the world of Beyond Good & Evil. However, time has a way of easing and fluctuating.
This brings us to 2008. Five years have passed since the game’s release. Rumours had been swirling about Ancel’s next project. He had gone on record to say he was working on a new game but neglected to mention exactly what the game was. The only clue he gave was that he said the game was very personal. Nothing more than that. Due to his passion for Beyond Good & Evil, journalists and fans started to speculate that Ancel’s newest project would continue Jade’s story.
Enter 2008, Ubisoft is organising an event called ‘Ubidays.’ At this event, Ubisoft showed trailers of their latest projects, including Far Cry 2 and Prince of Persia, a game that served as a reboot to the franchise. One trailer caught many people’s eyes. It was for an unannounced game from Ubisoft Montpellier. The trailer featured no title, but featured graphics that were said to be using an ‘in-game engine.’ The graphics were impressive for the time, utilising the power of the seventh generation of consoles. The trailer also showed two familiar faces that had a striking resemblance to Pey’j and Jade. Without confirming it, it was obvious that this trailer would be from the upcoming Beyond Good & Evil sequel.
Anticipation was high, but nobody expected the radio silence. The seventh generation of consoles had reached its end. The PS4 and Xbox One were now a present matter. Due to the ‘Ubidays’ trailer using graphics built for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Beyond Good & Evil 2 was now outdated and would need to be reworked to meet the standard of the current console market.
After nearly a decade of silence, rumoured restarts in development, and fans losing faith, E3 2017 gave people a much-welcome surprise. The stunning trailer showed how far the game had progressed since 2008. The trailer showcased over-the-top set pieces, vulgarity, and intense, cyberpunk-style graphics and action. It was everything that fans could have wanted and more. No release date was given, but there was the title: Beyond Good & Evil 2. It was very much real, and it looked like it was on its way to coming out. Not only that, but Ancel was still working as the game director. He stated that the previous 2008 trailer, as well as the leaked trailers and gameplay screenshots from 2009, were for another project, intended to be the sequel to Beyond Good & Evil. Since that trailer, Ancel had restarted development and decided the game should be a prequel. All the cards were laid out, hopefully for the best possible hand. Unfortunately, since 2017, the cards dealt have never been played.
It is now 2024, and no new footage has been shown of Beyond Good & Evil 2 since 2018. The game has long been considered vapourware, a term given to an IP that has never come out and perhaps never well. The only news came from a statement by Ubisoft in 2023 that told the public that the game was still in development. The situation gets worse when you learn that Michel Ancel is no longer involved in the project. After spending around 14 years working on Beyond Good & Evil 2, Ancel announced his retirement from the gaming industry in 2020. This also meant he would no longer be a director on another project, Wild. This fact was confirmed in 2021 when Sony executives gave the sad news that the development of Wild had been shut down, seven years after it was first announced.
Unfortunately, the sad news does not end there. When Ancel retired, he attempted to reassure fans that Beyond Good & Evil 2 was still on track and would eventually be released. Despite his attempt to reconcile his fans, 2023 saw an upsetting update from Ubisoft. Emile Morel, who worked with Ubisoft for 14 years, serving as lead game designer for the brilliant Rayman Legends and was heavily involved in Beyond Good & Evil 2, tragically died of a brain aneurysm. He was 40 years old. He was remembered fondly by Ubisoft employees and his passion for his work shone in every statement.
That brings us to today. Beyond Good & Evil 2 has still not been released. In recent years, Ubisoft has shifted its focus to Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs. But it seems like Ubisoft is still committed to the project. We have been graced with a re-release of Beyond Good & Evil for the PS5, Xbox, Switch, and PCs. This 20th Anniversary Edition to me, is proof that the franchise is still very much on the agenda at Ubisoft. They are not chasing the nostalgia, they are getting fans primed for the inevitable release of Beyond Good & Evil 2, whenever that is.
Recent leaks from insiders are stating that the game is still coming. The problem is that the game has been “coming” for over 18 years. The question I fear to consider is this: has it been too long? Games in development hell that eventually come out have a reputation for underperforming. Too Human and Duke Nukem Forever are perfect examples, with the latter gaining the Guinness World Record for the longest development cycle for a video game. Ironically, this record was broken in 2022 by Beyond Good & Evil 2. However, Metroid Dread, The Last Guardian, and Final Fantasy XV are games that had enormous development cycles consisting of restarts and difficulties but were all well-received. The final question I want to pose is not will Beyond Good & Evil 2 ever come out, but will it be worth the wait?
