Ubisoft Montpellier's Beyond Good And Evil 2 has been delayed so much that it has transcended the label of "vapourware", while staunchly refusing to become "abandonware". Announced in 2008, it has now comfortably outstripped Duke Nukem Forever as the "triple-A" game with the longest development time. I'm sure there are a few indie passion projects that have been bubbling away in the shadows for longer, but nothing on this scale. What's less tangible than vapour? Ectoplasm? The promises of small children?
]]>Ubisoft revealed a remastered Beyond Good & Evil 20th anniversary edition this week, out on 25th June, but that's not the Beyond Good & Evil many are hungering for. Beyond Good & Evil 2 was announced back in 2008, around 16 years ago. I remember writing about that trailer of Pey'j the porcine mechanic eating a fly for a blog somewhere. "Fly-eating mechanics confirmed?" I probably scribbled, in the blessed innocence of youth.
]]>It's been 14 years since RPS started writing about Beyond Good & Evil 2, Ubisoft's open world follow up to the cult classic I'm too young to have played. We haven't seen hide nor genetically modified pig tail of it since 2018, but rest assured, it lives.
That's despite the most recent swing of Ubisoft's game-cancelling scythe, which was brought down on three unannounced games last week due to the company's underperforming sales.
]]>We've been writing about Beyond Good & Evil 2 for over 14 years, but the ambitious open world sci-fi sequel hasn't been seen in over three. Ubisoft have maintained that the project isn't cancelled, and here's at least a little proof: narrative designer Sarah Arellano announced via Twitter that she's joined the project as lead writer.
]]>During Ubisoft's quarterly financial report, Ubisoft confirmed that scifi action-adventure Beyond Good & Evil 2 was still in development. When asked if it would be out in 2023, however, chief financial officer Frederick Duguet said only that, "We are progressing well with Beyond Good and Evil 2, but it's too early to tell you more at this stage."
]]>Michel Ancel, the co-creator of Rayman and creative director of Beyond Good & Evil, today announced that he's stopping working on video games. The French designer started at Ubisoft when he was a teenager and, after over 30 years in the industry spent mostly at Ubi, says he wants to focus on his second passion, wildlife. Come for the announcement, stay for the video of a fox stealing brioche.
]]>Fresh off the heels of Tom Clancy goes anime, Ubisoft have announced yet another collaboration with their new pals at Netflix. This time, it's a feature-length adaptation of Beyond Good And Evil from Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman - and with the long-dormant game sequel still no closer to release, there's a good chance this film may even hit screens first.
]]>Last year, Ubisoft announced a partnership with HitRecord, a collaborative website that allows creators to upload work, and remix others’, in order to get art and assets for Beyond Good And Evil 2 from fans. It caused many to speak out against the idea of sourcing labour from invested outsiders rather than salaried employees, as well as the concept of “spec work.” Ubisoft was asking people to put in time and effort with no guarantee that they would be paid, pointed out creators using the #nospec hashtag. Still, the system is returning for Watch Dogs Legion, with Ubisoft inviting musicians to submit work that could become one of ten tracks that will be used in the game – or might result in absolutely no reward for their labour.
]]>I'm starting to think that Beyond Good And Evil 2 might just pull it off. In their latest showcase video and lengthy developer stream, Ubisoft Montpellier give us our broadest, clearest look at their game of fanciful open-world bandes dessinées-styled space piracy. In what's starting to look a bit like Mass Effect but in a vastly more interesting setting, we get a peek at some early ground combat, space travel, puttering around on a hoverbike and even going for an orbital space-walk. There's an early look at co-op, crew recruitment systems and plenty of tasty little details. Take a peek below.
]]>The festival of dumb explosions known as E3 is over, but that won’t stop us. The RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, goes deep into the show, picking out our favourite games, the oddest moments, and best rats (spoiler: it was the one crushed by a shelf in the Resident Evil 2 trailer). We’re also introducing two new voices this week. Who are these strange people?
]]>There's a dark cloud looming over Ubisoft's Beyond Good and Evil 2, and I'm not just talking about the one in the stunning E3 trailer. Alongside a lot of good things at the E3 showing of the game was a section on how Joseph Gordon-Levitt's HitRecord was going to be handling the inclusion of community-created art and assets for the game. While creators will be paid if their work is used, it still sounds like high-risk speculative work to me (spend time/money making stuff now, hope someone pays later), despite Gordon-Levitt's woolly claim otherwise, posted on Medium here.
]]>Ubisoft's conference included everything we expected, from a closer look at Beyond Good & Evil 2, to confirmation of the leaked Assassin's Creed Odyssey, to the now traditional (and delightful) Just Dance dancy party. If you don't have time to watch the conference in its entirety however, here is a showcase of the trailers that were shown and links to the associated news from Ubisoft.
]]>A new Beyond Good & Evil 2 trailer hot out of E3 reveals that Ubisoft's sequel/prequel isn't nearly as far removed from the first game as assumed, as both Jade and Pey'j are in it. It's pretty cryptic, as Jade seems to be with those naughty Alpha Sections, but I'm just so happy to see my dear uncle Pey'j again.
Ubisoft also announced a scheme to include fan-made artwork and music in the game--and pay the creators for it--through Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Hit Record. Hmm!
]]>For all its glitz, glamour and stunning CGI teaser trailers, Beyond Good & Evil 2 - Michel Ancel's open-world prequel to 2003's cult action-adventure - is still mostly shrouded in mystery. We've seen a few very early peeks at its engine and concept art, but nothing that really resembles gameplay, until now. Granted, it's still some obviously pre-alpha development clips, but it gives us a brief but tantalising look at what being a sky-pirate in its weird French/Belgian comics-inspired universe is like.
]]>Last night, Ubisoft Montpellier hosted a livestream for Beyond Good and Evil 2, spilling more details about the space-pirate romp’s story, characters and wide variety of flashy spaceships. The livestream is an hour long and is mostly the devs chatting away on a sofa, so if you want a more condensed version, you can also watch a dev diary that touches on the same things below.
]]>Hurry hurry hurry (or, y'know, watch the archived stream a bit later) - Ubisoft are just about to show off the much-anticipated, much-delayed sequel Beyond Good and Evil 2. Michael Ancel and colleagues are live on Twitch, talking more about - and most importantly showing more - BGE2, a game that finally stepped out of the shadows in this Summer's E3.
Swearing, space pirates, online gubbins and prequel timeframes have raised a few eyebrows previously - will this bring 'em back down to earth or send 'em further skywards? Find out below.
]]>Ubisoft showed off the sweary monkeys and multicultural vistas of Beyond Good and Evil 2 [official site] at last week’s E3, but the CGI trailer was light on details. It was a big explodey, gorgeous-looking spectacle with no solid information. Now they’re showing some “in-engine” footage to the public, which was already seen by a few journos at the show, courtesy of Michel Ancel’s video below. He calls it a “mix between a technological demonstration of the engine that we call ‘Voyage’ and the actual game with some gameplay elements”. So, a tech demo then.
]]>Oh my lord, somebody needs to defeat this notorious E3 war machine once and for all. The RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, have gathered their forces to take on the monster. We'll be tackling all the big news: Beyond Good and Evil 2, Wolfenstein 2, Sea of Thieves, Anthem, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm and lots more. We've so much news to talk about that we've recruited news editor Alice O'Connor to come help us. We've also sent Adam behind enemy lines to Los Angeles, but have only been able to recover a handful of his communiques.
This week's special extra-long episode also features some chat about Alice's murderous efficiency in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Pip's floundering in Football Manager 2017 and my doomed piloting in Everspace. We also discuss the origin of the name "E3" and discover a patchwork quilt of possible etymologies.
]]>Each year E3 rolls around like a giant evil worm, crushing all that's good and pure. BUT that worm also announces lots of exciting gaming news as it wreaks its carnage upon the Earth. Here we have gathered every announcement, reveal, and exciting new trailer that emerged from the barrage of screamed press conferences over the last few days. And lots of it looks rather spiffy.
A rather enormous 47 PC games were either announced, revealed, or updated upon, with new trailers, information, and released dates that will all be missed by at least three months. We've collected the lot, with trailers, in alphabetical order, into one neat place, just for you.
]]>Oh look at that, Beyond Good and Evil 2 [official site] has been shown off at E3 (sans ampersand), featuring anthropomorphic monkeys, criminal pigs, Hindu and Buddhist temples projecting neon lights, angry space police with silly missiles, steering wheels in the shape of skulls and quite a lot more. It’s an explosive trailer and you should probably see it for yourself so get down there and SORT IT OUT.
]]>Seems like we post about how Beyond Good & Evil 2 is/is not coming every six months or so. HAPPY FACE! Oh no but SADFACE! And so forth. What we don't often do is talk about the Beyond Good & Evil game that does really, truly, honestly, no honestly exist. Its beloved nature is so often discussed only in terms of frustration that it never saw a sequel. Well, now's the time to establish a) why so many people still bang on about Michael 'Rayman' Ancel's jumpy-thumpy adventure and b) whether they should still in good conscience be doing so. Ubisoft have made the whole kit'n'kaboodle free for a few days.
]]>If you've been keenly awaiting Beyond Good & Evil 2 these eight long years, hanging on the edge of your seat for so long that your flesh has grown into the fabric and you'll need to be cut out, good news: Ubisoft have confirmed... something that is likely Beyond Good & Evil 2. They're definitely doing a new Beyond Good & Evil, at least. We've known about their desire to for yonks, thanks to irregular mentions and reassurances, but making even a vague announcement suggests they're cracking on with it. Series creator Michel Ancel has been blasting concept art around too.
]]>Hoist E3 above the bloodstone with ropes of braided ivy then circle thrice with burning mugwort. Cleanse your obsidian dagger with goat's milk then dry it with moss. Holding E3 firmly by the neck, plunge your blade into its guts and draw down, let the guts spill onto the bloodstone, unspooling like a VHS tape (you may need to reach in and yank to get things started). Examine the EEEntrails. See the patterns emerge beneath the rising steam. Know the future. Know that it reads the same as ever: yuh huh for real Beyond Good & Evil 2 is definitely still happening, for real, for really real.
]]>Just as Santa Claus is definitely real, we have a duty and a responsibility to support and encourage our youngers' belief in Beyond Good & Evil 2. They may not even know what it is, let alone the historical origins of this tradition, but they understand that it is important. They understand that we become excited by any hint of its existence. My little niece leaves a plate of K-Bups on the mantlepiece for Uncle Pey'j every E3 Eve.
So yes, BG&E2 is real, okay, because BG&E head honch Michel Ancel talked about it recently, okay.
]]>Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every weekday of the year, perhaps for all time.
We've written 175 of these Have You Playeds. When I searched the database to check we'd included Beyond Good & Evil [official site] already, I then searched it twice more in case Google Sheets had lost their minds. Nope, it was us!
]]>It's nice to have a reminder that Ubisoft really do intend to release Beyond Good & Evil 2, isn't it? After six years, I don't really think of it as an actual game I might play one day, more a pleasant idea I'm glad Ubisoft still share. The latest of many casual statements that yeah, they're thinkin' about it too comes to assuage concerns after news that BG&E head honcho Michel Ancel (of Rayman fame too) is going indie. Sort of.
Ancel has joined a new small indie outfit, named Wild Sheep, but will continue to work at Ubi too.
]]>One of the greater tragedies of the modern age (mainly of gaming, I suppose, but also just in general) is that we've seen neither hide nor hair of Beyond Good and Evil 2 since a fairly insubstantial leak earlier this year. And before that, it was pretty much all radio silence. That's painfully upsetting, because the original was a flawed yet fascinating romp through a world of conspiracy and pig people. It's a cobweb-coated corner of the gaming universe to which I'd gladly return, but so far, no dice. But why? Why isn't Ubisoft currently devoting all of its energies to making games just for meeeeee?
]]>When will Beyond Good & Evil 2 come out? In our lifetimes? Shortly after humanity begins leaving its bipedal bootprints on the deepest reaches of space? 2014? (If you're a character from a piece of 1950s sci-fi literature, "all of the above" is also a possibility.) Series mastermind Michel Ancel has opted to keep it all under lock and key, but the Internet - somewhat fittingly - has embarked on a relentless journey to expose the truth. First, we got an alleged in-engine screenshot, but the rabbit hole runs deeper. Amazingly, Ubisoft has done more than simply create one static, completely non-interactive photo. Now it moves, as though propelled by puppet strings, the invisible hand of fate, or a ghost.
]]>It wasn't happening and then it was happening and then it maybe wasn't again and now it is again. The cosmic ballet continues. After making the internet en masse do its sex face with news that Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil 2 was in development and later seeing an apparent leak of some spine-tickling possible concept footage, hope it would happen seemed to evaporate. Silence fell. Grown men wept. Or at least tweeted. Then! Suddenly! As publishers seem to have had some sort of green light to start muttering about next-generation consoles all of a sudden, Ubisoft have joined the fray. Well, abstractly. Contrary to what other sites have been screaming hysterically today, Ancel and his team have not outright stated that the game's bound for future-devices, instead claiming that the game "needs more tech" and they'll work out what can actually run it once it's more or less complete.
]]>I feel like such a mug, but here we go again. Rumours are spreading that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in production. VG247 quotes French site Gamekult as evidence for its existence. The ambiguous quote comes in a reply from Ubisoft France CEO Geoffroy Sardin to a query about I Am Alive and BG&E2, and is, when translated by Google, in full, this: "They are still in production every two..." Although the French, "Ils sont toujours en production tous les deux...", perhaps better ends up, rearranged, "They have both always been in production."
]]>Sad news which broke last night. Luckily, I was already drinking vodka. Via the medium of twitter, Colin Solal Cardo of Gamesyde posted: "I got confirmation at Cologne's Gamescom that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is on hold for now. No idea if it's def or temporary but it sucks." It does, indeed, suck. 1UP bring up an old Ubisoft quote that it was never certain anyway. I suspect worldwide recession hasn't exactly helped a marginal game like BG&E. See what everyone thought was test footage for BG&E2 beneath the cut...
]]>Kotaku highlight an interesting video, discovered from French site Eversonic. It's what appears to be concept footage from Beyond Good & Evil 2. It's obviously hard to be sure, but it certainly looks like Jade, and matches the style of the screenshots and video we've seen before. Even the music is right. If this concept is anything like how the game is going to look and play, then crikey, there's even more reasons to look forward to it. A lot appears to be inspired by Mirror's Edge movement, and you could argue quite extensively that it runs like an ME mod. Well, see what you make of it - it's below.
]]>The rumours were true. Beyond Good & Evil 2 is go. Repeat: Beyond Good & Evil 2 is go. Woowoowoo!
An extremely confident, pig-laden teaser trailer waits for you beneath the cut, like a lost lover suddenly returned.
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