The ESRB rating for Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition has leaked online.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Twitter user MAC0S380 managed to snag a screenshot of the rating from the ESRB’s website. That rating is no longer available to access on the site.
The ESRB gave Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition an E10+ rating, so it’s good for players 10 years old and above. They also shared this description of the game:
“This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of a reporter accompanied by a pig-like companion investigating a conspiracy on the planet of Hillys.
From a third-person perspective, players explore fantasy locations, take photos of evidence, solve puzzles, and fight robot and alien enemies.”
The rating also shared that Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.
The first Beyond Good & Evil (note the original game using an ampersand, and the anniversary edition spelling out the and) was released in 2003 across multiple platforms as well. It came to the PlayStation 2 first, followed by Windows, the original Xbox, and the GameCube.
This version of the game then received an HD remastered version in 2011, as strictly a digital download for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. While Ubisoft has brought back the Windows version of the original on their Ubisoft client, that version of the game can have some compatibility issues, and generally shows its age. At least the company has periodically given away that version for free.
Of course, we know that Ubisoft has been working on a sequel to this game for literal decades now. The game’s original creator, Michael Ancel, had been going on again, off again, on making a sequel or spinoff for years. In 2016, Ubisoft formally revealed they were producing a prequel, as a multiplatform release.
In 2020, however, Michael Ancel was directly named in the sudden string of workplace allegations at Ubisoft. Ancel in particular was accused of abusive behavior and general disorganization. Ancel left Ubisoft a week before these allegations were published in French newspaper Libération, and he has formally denied them.
Ubisoft had stated since then that progress on the sequel is going well, but have been otherwise tight lipped. There is actually also a combined live action animated adaptation in the docket, announced by Netflix in 2020, and has also received no updates.
So, all things considered, a 20th anniversary rerelease was probably a good idea for Ubisoft. It’s a fairly good way to keep the name prominent, the game hadn’t received other rereleases recently, and there’s a good market for these remakes and remasters at the moment. We don’t know what to expect from this remaster, but if Ubisoft is matching the date of their anniversary, we might get this game on November at the earliest.
