When it comes to Ubisoft, they’re known to make promises they can’t keep, or announce games that they don’t release for a long time. When that happens, the results tend not to be good. One of the company’s most iconic titles, though, is celebrating a key anniversary, and as was leaked previously, they were doing a special edition to re-release it. We speak of the Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, which was officially announced today during the Limited Run Games Showcase. Yeah, they have a showcase, too. What a world we live in. Anyway, let’s get back to the anniversary edition.
The Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition will arrive next week on June 25th. As you might expect from an upgraded version of a classic title, it will have some enhanced features and quality-of-life improvements. For example, players will have the option to take it all the way up to 4K graphics and have it run at 60 FPS. However, the system you play it on will reflect how high the upper limit is. You’ve been warned.
As for truly new content, a new treasure hunt was confirmed, the soundtrack has been completely redone to make it sound even better, and there’s an art gallery that players can go through to see various evolutions of the game’s characters.
If you’re wondering why this game is a big deal, it’s actually a bit of a curious story. First off, the game was made by the man who created the beloved Ubisoft icon, Rayman. He went into a completely new direction with this action-adventure title and even made adjustments on the fly to ensure that people would like it. To that end, it was a critical darling, and some even call it one of the best video games ever made.
However, on the financial side, it was a flop, a big one at that. Yet, the “cult status” that has grown over the years for it has led to various promises by Ubisoft that a sequel was coming. Sure enough, Beyond Good & Evil 2 was announced years back at E3, but nothing has come of it since. That’s a problem and a trend that Ubisoft is all too familiar with.
It’s possible they’ll look at this 20th-anniversary edition release, both in digital and physical formats, to see just how much people truly want this game. If they like what they see? Maybe they’ll get back to making that sequel.
