Considered one of the greatest video games ever made, Beyond Good and Evil was released in 2003. Nearly twenty years later, fans are eager to hear anything positive regarding the game’s potential sequel. Over the years Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development hell, with Bloomberg announcing in February that the title was still in pre-production after over five long years of development.
After a long period of silence, Ubisoft’s Barcelona division posted a job opening this week for 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. It seems like things are still (relatively) going full speed ahead.
With this glimpse of good news, can we expect Beyond Good and Evil 2 any time soon?
When will Beyond Good and Evil be released?
Formally announced at E3 2017, Ubisoft first teased Beyond Good and Evil 2 almost a decade prior in 2008 with a brief trailer. At the time of writing, no release window or target platforms have been revealed. In July 2021, Ubisoft stated that development on the game was “progressing well” in a financial report, but declined to offer any details regarding a possible time of release.
Recent reports indicated that at least five of Ubisoft’s studios are committed to the upcoming game. Former director Michel Ancel left the games industry in 2020, and despite claiming that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was in good hands, it’s possible that this shakeup led to further uncertainty regarding the game’s future.
With more role-playing elements compared to Beyond Good and Evil, Ubisoft has stated that players can design their own characters and will start “at the very bottom of the social system.” 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. It definitely sounds like a massive project. Let’s hope that it’s worth the decades-long wait.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development with no set release date.