The first Beyond Good and Evil was released in 2003. Considered one of the greatest video games ever made, fans of the Ubisoft title weren’t expecting to wait twenty years for a sequel. Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development hell for years, with Bloomberg announcing in February that the title was still in pre-production after over five years of development.
Just this week, Ubisoft’s Barcelona division posted a job opening seeking a senior gameplay animator to work on Beyond Good and Evil 2. The listing also states that the game represents one of Ubisoft’s most ambitious projects to date–music to the ears of fans who had expected the title to be tossed aside, never to see the light of day.
With the potential release of the sequel looming, many are wondering if the new game will pick up where the first game left off.
Is Beyond Good and Evil 2 a True Sequel to the First Game?
When first announced by Ubisoft, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was shown to be a direct sequel to the first game. In early trailers released in 2007, both Jade and Pey’j appear. However, in 2017, Ubisoft announced that during production, the team had shifted direction, deciding to make a prequel instead of a sequel. Beyond Good and Evil 2 will take place at least one generation before the events of the first game.
According to former game director Michel Ancel, the prequel will have a narrative element that includes fixed story events. Players will visit planets that each have distinct societies, and by completing tasks, they will gain new technologies or other useful items to improve their spacecraft. Player characters will be customizable. The timeline for the upcoming game remains unclear, but it doesn’t look like Jade’s story will be continuing as many had hoped.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development.