Vapourware Beyond Good & Evil 2

[Modron]

The BGaE2 page still hasn't disappeared from the Ubisoft's domain.

I looked it up after someone mentioned the first game in shoutbox a few days ago and the latest news post on it was 4 years ago. I guess on a positive side if they were to finish it off and release it in the next few years the system requirements should be fairly low like butterlords for example.

 

[lightbane]

They can't admit the money is gone, so the game still exists, despite taking forever than Gearbox's Duke Nukem.

 

[Modron]

I think you meant to say being in development longer than Grimoire.

 

[ADL]

 

[MasterofThunder]

Why does Ubisoft even allow "development" on this "game" to continue, with Michel Ancel long gone?. It was his own pet project, and has no reason to exist beyond him. It isn't even the sequel people wanted, but a, shall we say, ethnically diverse prequel in trash land.

 

[lightbane]

It must be a laundering scheme that grew too big to control anymore, I suppose.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

They can't admit the money is gone, so the game still exists, despite taking forever than Gearbox's Duke Nukem.

The difference between this and Duke Nukem Forever is this game wasn’t actually in development from the time that first CGI trailer was released in the late 2000s. This game has been in developed for a while, but it’s active development seems to be something like seven years.

It also seems like gameplay ideas they came up with ended up in other games. That leaked 2009 trailer of Jade running around shows stuff that would later end up in Assassin’s Creed...I don’t remember which one, maybe it was Unity.

It even looks like Ubisoft’s upcoming Star Wars Outlaws game might be doing some of the transitional stuff from ground to space that they showed off for this game.

 

[toro]

To show that it was serious about finally delivering Beyond Good and Evil 2 at some point, Ubisoft even put a new teaser for the sequel in its remaster of the original Beyond Good & Evil. A new treasure hunt in the anniversary edition “reveals more about the narrative link to Beyond Good and Evil 2, showing Ubisoft’s enduring commitment to the franchise,” the company said.
It shows a holographic message to protagonist Jade from Dakini, Jade’s mother figure and the captain of the space pirate ship Gada. In addition to the heartfelt recording, Dakini presents Jade with a number of artifacts tied to characters who will appear in Beyond Good and Evil 2 — a prequel to the original game.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I really do not get why a Beyond Good and Evil 2 game is taking so long to develop. Let’s just forget about the previous stuff that came out in the 360 era, because I’m not sure any actual work was being done on the game then; it’s like a CGI trailer and a leaked concept video that seemingly had some ideas that would later make their way into the Assassin’s Creed series. But this one, which they’ve actually developed some game for, has been in development for like 8 years now.

I mean the first game is basically a more story driven Devil May Cry with a hub world you can drive a boat (and later a spaceship) around to get to the next combat “level.” It’s a pretty simple formula. Even if they still wanted to do all the stuff they were talking about doing in this game, it seems like they could’ve just been working on that as Beyond Good and Evil 3 while another team did a Beyond Good and Evil 2 that’s more in line with the first and have that out after three years. That Star Wars Outlaws game Ubisoft is making is going to come out for this game does, and that started development back in 2020.

 

[Be Kind Rewind]

I really do not get why a Beyond Good and Evil 2 game is taking so long to develop. Let’s just forget about the previous stuff that came out in the 360 era, because I’m not sure any actual work was being done on the game then; it’s like a CGI trailer and a leaked concept video that seemingly had some ideas that would later make their way into the Assassin’s Creed series. But this one, which they’ve actually developed some game for, has been in development for like 8 years now.

I mean the first game is basically a more story driven Devil May Cry with a hub world you can drive a boat (and later a spaceship) around to get to the next combat “level.” It’s a pretty simple formula. Even if they still wanted to do all the stuff they were talking about doing in this game, it seems like they could’ve just been working on that as Beyond Good and Evil 3 while another team did a Beyond Good and Evil 2 that’s more in line with the first and have that out after three years. That Star Wars Outlaws game Ubisoft is making is going to come out for this game does, and that started development back in 2020.

It only makes sense when you consider the history of the development of the original game, what was released was a very cut down version of the original intent of a much more open exploration of planets. The PS2 and GameCube obviously couldn't deliver on that but with the sequel Ubisoft invested a lot of money into realizing that part of the original concept and this is what was being demoed in 2017, after several failed sequel projects.



This sort of No Man's Sky infinite scope bullshit almost never pans out, rumor has it that they tried salvaging as much of the tech as possible for the Star Wars Ubislop game. As for why they aren't putting out a smaller game, Ubisoft had a long period when they just weren't in the business of making medium to small scoped games and it's only just recently they have started going back to that, with the Wakandan Prince of Persia game and the like.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

I can definitely buy that the first game is only a fraction of what they originally wanted to make. I know when played it, I wasn’t expecting the spaceship I was building to be the the end point of the game. I figured: Oh, I’m going to build this thing, and that’s going to open up more zones I can go into... kind of like Skies of Arcadia.

Still, my point stands. They could’ve had another team developing a Beyond Good and Evil 2, that was built around the exact same formal as the first, that opened things up more than the first game by letting you take your aircraft all over some planet, while the main team was working on their ambitious Beyond Good and Evil game with procedurally generated worlds in the background. Let’s say Ubisoft did do that, they both entered development in 2016, and after a few years you get a Beyond Good and Evil 2 in like 2019 or 2020. The thing that is this game is still being working on in the background, but people aren’t going to be making fun of how long it’s taking to develop because they got a game in ‘19 or ‘20. I mean Ubisoft knows people want a new Beyond Good and Evil, and they know the presentation is that a sequel has been in development since 2007/2008. So it seems like the smart thing to do would be to do something that could be turned around on a normal timetable while the other team tries figuring out their follow-up. The smaller game I’m talking about here also isn’t really a “small game” it’s just something that could definitely be put out within a normal game’s development cycle. Like look at that Star Wars game they’re making, it’s got space stuff, and multiple open world planets, it seems to be a fairly large game and they’re getting that out the door within four years of the pitch.

I really wouldn’t be surprised if Star Wars Outlaws was using things built for this game. It’s something I was wondering the moment they showed it off. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it started as something Beyond and Evil related that then became Star Wars after pitching it to Lucasfilms.

 

[toro]

I really wouldn’t be surprised if Star Wars Outlaws was using things built for this game. It’s something I was wondering the moment they showed it off. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it started as something Beyond and Evil related that then became Star Wars after pitching it to Lucasfilms.

SW Outlaws is build on an upgraded version of Snowdrop engine (The Division) while BGE2 was built on a special engine called Voyager.

BGE2 was announced a long time ago, and they already demonstrated the capability to seemlessly fly in and out of planets.

SW Outlaws came out of nowhere and it's without a doubt build on BGE2's design ideas.

The problem with the game is that probably Ubisoft used BGE2 as a carrot for Michel Ancel. He was never 100% dedicated to BGE2 and instead he was "forced" to work on other projects. I guess at some point he no longer cared about the franchise.

 

[lightbane]

Ancel was Metoo'ed. I'm sure that also affected development of this game.

 

[Nikanuur]

Some little updates, it would seem. I don't know if you all know, but the remaster is supposed to have one new quest line tied to BGaE 2

https://www.techradar.com/news/beyond-good-and-evil-2

 

[Morgoth]

Beyond Good & Evil 2 still in development, now with new creative director​

Jade empire.

News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief

Published on Oct. 24, 2024

Ubisoft's long-awaited Beyond Good & Evil 2 remains in development, and now has a new creative director taking the project forward.

Despite a record-breaking marathon on-again, off-again development cycle stretching back almost 20 years, Ubisoft appears to be demonstrating its commitment to finally getting Beyond Good & Evil 2 done by appointing company veteran Fawzi Mesmar as the game's new creative lead.

Mesmar has worked at Ubisoft for two decades - hey, that's nearly as long as Beyond Good & Evil 2 has been in development! - and previously served as the company's overall boss of creative development. He's a senior and experienced pair of hands, for a project that has gone through numerous iterations and various senior staffing changes over the years - including the departure of franchise creator Michel Ancel in 2020 after accusations of toxic behaviour, and the sad death in 2023 of Emile Morel, the game's previous creative director.

"With more than 20 years as an award-winning game designer and creative director, Mesmar has been instrumental in the successful launch of over 20 video games," a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer 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."

It's been well over a year since Ubisoft last told Eurogamer that Beyond Good & Evil 2 remained in development despite various shake-ups at the publisher, and nothing has been seen of it since.

Still, the franchise has been kept alive by a polished 20th Anniversary re-release of the original Beyond Good & Evil, which includes a wealth of behind-the-scenes content plus all-new story content that directly sets up Beyond Good & Evil 2 (which, narratively, acts a prequel).

Discussion of Beyond Good & Evil 2 has bubbled up again this week in the wake of an Insider Gaming report which stated some staff who previously worked on Prince of Persia: The Last Crown had since joined the project.

Yesterday, Ubisoft also confirmed it had tapped Michel Ancel to consult on its plans for the future of the Rayman franchise.

 

[HansDampf]

Release is just around the corner, bro. I swear, it's gonna be the best game ever, bro.