If a recent report is to be believed, Beyond Good and Evil 2 has had one of the most troubled development cycles of any modern video game. Over the last seven years or so, Beyond Good and Evil 2 has reportedly been overhauled multiple times, resulting in a game that even its developers are uncertain will ever see the light of day.
Originally announced all the way back in 2008, Beyond Good and Evil 2 currently holds the record for longest development cycle of any AAA game. After almost a decade of radio silence from Ubisoft, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was officially re-revealed in 2017. But now, almost another decade later, there’s still no sign of the belated sequel. While Ubisoft confirmed in January of this year that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development, the game has lost several high-profile developers, including the series’ original director, Michel Ancel, and the sequel’s second director, Emile Morel.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Has Reportedly Had a Very Troubled Development
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bg&e2 concept art
A recent newsletter from French outlet Origami shed some new light on Beyond Good and Evil 2‘s lengthy development, with the outlet speaking directly with unnamed sources close to the project. The newsletter begins by confirming that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development and currently has “several hundred” people working on it, primarily at Ubisoft Montpellier. But the last seven years of development have been anything but straightforward.
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Origami claims that between 2019 and 2022, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was designed to be some sort of massive multiplayer game where players would travel between multiple planets and would experience emergent quests that would be generated on the fly. According to Origami’s sources, Fortnite and Destiny were the developers’ biggest inspirations at that time. This massive multiplayer structure was then condensed down into smaller matchmaking groups, before being reduced again down to 4-player teams, and then eventually shrunk down even further to just two players. Now, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is being envisioned as a “solo first” adventure, with a focus on story and without the need for an online connection, though co-op will still be implemented.
Along with significantly changing gameplay directions multiple times during development, Beyond Good and Evil 2 has also reportedly missed and failed many of its internal milestones over the last few years. According to Origami’s report, this isn’t due to any incompetence on the developers’ part, but instead because the aim of these milestones has routinely changed. For instance, past goal posts have challenged whether the core gameplay loop is engaging enough, if the gameplay mechanics are innovative enough, or if the game is “cool” enough. Due to these moving goal posts, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still considered to be in pre-production, with the game’s next milestone hoping to push it into an Alpha development phase where playable elements can begin to be implemented.
Despite its continued development issues, Beyond Good and Evil 2 has reportedly had the undying support of Ubisoft higher-ups and has been safe from cancelation. But given Ubisoft’s ongoing attempt to restructure itself, this safety might falter soon. According to Origami’s anonymous sources, while some newer employees are worried that Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be canceled at the game’s next milestone review, others who have been working on the game for multiple years now are secretly hoping that it’s canceled as it might give them a chance to work on a different project with a clearer direction and more defined finish line.
