A new Beyond Good and Evil game from Ubisoft was first officially teased back in 2008. Over 15 years later, Beyond Good and Evil 2 hasn’t seen the light of day, but it still eventually might. Despite years of stalled production punctuated by high-profile departures and tragedy, the ambitious open world sequel remains in development and continues its slow march forward under new leadership.
The co-op, space pirate follow-up to the cult-hit sci-fi 2003 game made its big debut at E3 2017 with hands-off demos the following year. Those presentations made lots of promises about its procedurally generated planetary cities, third-person action combat, and seamless transition to outer space, and were led by Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel and senior producer Guillaume Brunier, neither of whom are still with the project.
Ancel left Ubisoft in 2020 amid reports of toxic leadership and chaotic direction (although he’s now back consulting on a new Rayman project). Brunier was removed from Beyond Good and Evil 2 earlier this year, sources told Kotaku at the time, following years of gridlock and indecision about scope, features, and design trade-offs. Taking his place was Francis Coldeboeuf, a nearly 30-year veteran of Ubisoft who had already been working on the game as a producer.
“Guillaume Brunier will transition to another project within Ubisoft,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft told Kotaku back in July. “We’d like to thank Guillaume for his leadership in developing the game over the years. His contributions and dedication have been truly admirable. Beyond Good and Evil 2 development will continue under the leadership of Francis Coldeboeuf, a seasoned Producer who was already part of the core team. We will have more to share when the time is right.”
Beyond Good and Evil 2 was also still recovering from the loss of its creative director last year. Emile Morel, who had previously been the lead game designer on Rayman Legends, tragically passed away at the age of 40 in July 2023. It was a shock to everyone, with testimonials from colleagues pouring out at the time to celebrate his leadership, creativity, and kindness. In addition to the emotional pain, the loss added to the cloud hanging over the project for some.
Now, Fawzi Mesmar, who had already been involved in overseeing the project as VP of Global Creative at Ubisoft, has also taken over Morel’s role as creative director. “With more than 20 years as an award-winning game designer and creative director, he’s been instrumental in the successful launch of over 20 video games,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft confirmed to Kotaku today. “Mesmar previously collaborated with the Beyond Good & Evil 2 team as VP of Editorial. In his new role, he’s focused on continuing to build upon the vision set forth by our late friend and colleague, Emile Morel.”
Beyond Good and Evil 2 has now been in development for even longer than the notorious Duke Nukem Forever. Many publishers would have canceled the troubled money pit long ago, and some developers within Ubisoft still see it as a drain amid belt-tightening that has forced the cancelation of plenty of other projects. The company hasn’t cut its losses yet though, and it’s possible that seven years since it was first shown at E3, it could still climb out of development hell.
The game recently successfully passed an internal milestone with positive feedback from company leadership, according to two sources familiar with production. While there’s still a lot of work ahead, at least some developers on the project feel like it may have finally found its footing and a clearer direction after years of tech issues and internal power struggles. Some of those issues culminated in mass burnout at the studio leading the game’s development, Ubisoft Montpellier, which ultimately resulted in a government investigation and the managing director leaving.
While turnover on the project has been immense over the years, Insider Gaming reported today that some of the former staff on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown have moved over to Beyond Good and Evil 2. There’s still no solid timeline for the game’s release but what is clear is that the game is far from dead. That’s hopeful news for fans of the original game, which recently received a 20th anniversary remaster, though it’s impossible to say whether the sequel itself will have been worth the wait if and until it finally comes out.