Beyond Good & Evil 2 has made it through the most recent round of game cancellations at Ubisoft, and creative director Fawzi Mesmar is feeling a combination of sadness and relief. Ubisoft seems to have a detailed game plan for business operations moving forward, and Beyond Good & Evil 2‘s future seems to be generally unaffected by the recent restructuring efforts.
Earlier in January, Ubisoft canceled development of its Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake and five other games. The cancellations, which also included one mobile game and four unannounced projects for consoles and PC, were originally reported by journalist Jason Schreier, but the news was shortly thereafter confirmed by Ubisoft. Even with the cuts, the software giant still has plenty of irons left in the fire, with a recent incomplete listing of 23 existing franchises divided between five different creative houses.
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Beyond Good & Evil 2 Creative Director Reassures Fans
One of those 23 surviving franchises is Beyond Good & Evil, which is listed in Ubisoft’s sustainable growth plan as falling under control of the fourth creative house, dedicated to “immersive fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes.” In the aftermath of that report going public, Mesmar took to LinkedIn to confirm that Beyond Good & Evil 2 and its creative team have been largely unaffected by the recent shifts at Ubisoft. “We remain committed and focused on delivering a remarkable game for our players to enjoy,” he stated in his message to fans, while also thanking those who have reached out to him personally with concerns after news of the other Ubisoft game cancellations first broke.
The original Beyond Good & Evil was first launched in November 2003, earning generally favorable review scores but seeing disappointing sales figures in its first few months, despite its release in the midst of the holiday shopping season. At the time, much of its failure to produce big sales numbers was credited to underutilization of marketing and the action-adventure game’s unusual premise, which saw protagonist Jade investigating a potential alien threat with a combination of stealth, platforming, and commanding other characters’ actions through contextual commands. Still, it managed to win multiple gaming awards, and a prequel was announced in 2008, though little was known about it until Beyond Good & Evil 2‘s first trailer reveal at Ubisoft’s E3 2017 press conference, nearly a full decade after its initial announcement.
Now in 2026, Ubisoft is going on 18 years since first mentioning the Beyond Good & Evil prequel, and the company’s continued commitment to the project has been a surprise to many fans given its lengthy development process. Less than two months before it was announced as being safe from the recent round of canceled games, a November 2025 status update on Beyond Good & Evil 2 revealed a wave of new hirings at Ubisoft Montpelier, the game’s development studio, including roles like Lead Quest Designer, Senior 3D Character Artist, Senior VFX Artist, Technical Sound Designer, and Technical Lead Network Programmer. Those job listings hinted at a multiplayer mode being included in the upcoming game, although it is still expected to primarily be a single-player experience.
Despite his relief over both the long-awaited gaming project and his team being safe from recent cuts at Ubisoft, Mesmar still expressed sympathy for the gaming industry workers who have been affected by the six canceled games. “I urge everyone – myself included – to offer support whenever and however they can during these times,” he stated. For its part, Ubisoft has taken a big stock market hit in the aftermath of the announcement, with its stock falling 39 percent on January 22 and hitting a nearly 15-year low after revealing its restructuring plan.
