The Mass Effect franchise received a huge blow recently with the news that EA has shut down BioWare, meaning the next game in the beloved sci-fi RPG series has been canceled. BioWare announced a new Mass Effect game back in 2020, and since then, the developer hasn’t really been able to supply fans with many updates other than concept art and small teasers. Because of the seemingly troubled development, EA shutting down the studio and its project may not be the most surprising to some gamers, but it still hurts. Mass Effect helped define RPGs in the 21st century, and seeing such a legacy end this way stings.
Now that the next Mass Effect game has been canceled, one question that has been bugging me is which in-development project will meet a similar fate next. There are several projects that seem to be stuck in limbo, but the game that came to my mind first holds the record for Ubisoft’s longest development cycle: Beyond Good and Evil 2. From the outside, Beyond Good and Evil 2 could be the poster child for “development hell,” and a recent report regarding the game’s status doesn’t exactly sound hopeful.
Beyond Good and Evil 2’s Development Cycle Makes Mass Effect’s Silence Look Like Child’s Play
The Mass Effect announcement happened six years ago, and all that time without significant updates is undoubtedly a lot of dead air. However, Beyond Good and Evil 2 blows that timeline out of the water. Ubisoft’s long-awaited sequel was first announced in 2008. Yes, that’s nearly 20 years ago. Beyond Good and Evil 2 is one of the longest development cycles in gaming history, and the project has somehow managed to keep its head above water. The game’s luck might be running out soon, though.
Guess the games from the emojis.
According to a recent report from French outlet Origami, insiders close to or attached to the project claim that the game is still in early stages of development. One of the core reasons why the game is caught in a never-ending production purgatory is because it has continued to face a series of identity crises. Origami’s report states that the game has faced constant reworks, even taking the form of a multiplayer Fortnite-like experience for a few years. The current state of Beyond Good and Evil 2 is allegedly now a single-player game. With all of this back-and-forth indecisiveness, Ubisoft could have had several games shipped instead of allowing one project to constantly be reworked over and over with nothing to show for.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is one of the longest development cycles in gaming history, and the project has somehow managed to keep its head above water.
Ubisoft’s handling of the Beyond Good and Evil 2 development timeline has allowed the project to stretch on for far too long. Allowing dev teams the time and space to create something great is one thing, but there eventually needs to be a hard limit set in stone. Origami’s report claims that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is on the verge of approaching another development checkpoint, and if the deadline is missed or the project is unsatisfactory, there is a chance it could finally be the nail in the coffin that causes a cancellation.
The first Beyond Good & Evil game remains a classic from that era, and Ubisoft clearly believes in the sequel. However, after so long, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the sequel crosses the finish line as a cohesive project, especially after so many genre shake-ups. I want to be proven wrong, but after the Mass Effect news, Beyond Good and Evil 2‘s status has me sweating a little bit.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Is Safe for Now, But Gamers Can’t Wait Forever
Right now, only time will tell if Beyond Good and Evil 2 ever gets to see the light of day. The year started out rough with Ubisoft canceling games like the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. Beyond Good and Evil 2‘s production cycle has been so notorious that a lot of people immediately assumed that the game was going to be included on the list of canceled Ubisoft games. That wasn’t the case, though, and the sequel is still chugging along. At some point, Ubisoft will have to put its foot down and give Beyond Good and Evil 2 a hard deadline, but that could be years away at this rate.
There is also the chance that a massive firm like Saudi Arabia’s PIF comes in and buys out the company in the next few years. As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any current plans for such a deal, but PIF buying a company as massive as EA shows that it isn’t impossible. PIF’s EA buyout likely played a significant role in BioWare’s shutdown. If Ubisoft found itself in a similar situation, Beyond Good and Evil 2 would be the most obvious game to cancel first. Two decades is a wild amount of time to spend developing a game. There’s no telling when Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be ready, but if that day ever comes, it’s hopefully worth the wait.
- Released
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November 20, 2007
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Electronic Arts
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 3
