Ubisoft may finally be making some solid progress in making Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Kotaku claims to have insider sources who have told them that the game recently hit a development milestone. To quote Ethan Gach’s report:
“The game recently successfully passed an internal milestone with positive feedback from company leadership, according to two sources familiar with production.
While there’s still a lot of work ahead, at least some developers on the project feel like it may have finally found its footing and a clearer direction after years of tech issues and internal power struggles.”
In broad terms, the video game industry refers to the different stages in making games as milestones. Reaching a milestone means that they have achieved specific goals that mark that specific stage of development, and it allows them to move forward.
Gach wasn’t told exactly how far along Beyond Good & Evil 2’s development is, but any progress, even if it’s at an initial stage, is good progress. The game was first announced in 2008 and has survived three console generations as well as multiple staff changes.
A big reason behind the game’s staggered development is its former director, Michel Ancel. Ancel had recently faced allegations of fostering a toxic workplace with his severe management style.
Word behind the scenes is that Ancel had repeatedly iterated and rejected ideas for the game, and this is the main reason for its delayed production. After Ancel left Ubisoft and this project, Beyond Good & Evil 2 continued to suffer setbacks, including the untimely passing of creative director Emile Morel.
At the time of this report, Beyond Good & Evil 2 development is being led by Francis Coldeboeuf, and helming the role of creative director is Fawzi Mesmar. Both were already part of the game’s development team, so they had the opportunity to build a sense of continuity with the work that has been made so far.
While this is a positive development, it comes at a time when Ubisoft itself is in crisis. Because the company has had too many games release that failed to sell to expectations, they are now at a point where the Guillemots could be bought out of the company.
But we have to reexamine a rumor about the Guillemots from last May. Allegedly, they have been hoping to cash out of the company for some time now, with plans to set up a public offer of acquisition. Because of this, they have refused to cancel Beyond Good & Evil 2. It continues to add just enough value to Ubisoft that the Guillemots could sell the company for that much more.
That rumor doesn’t exactly line up with what we’ve learned now, but there may be some partial truth to it. We may never know the full details behind the scenes at Ubisoft’s head offices. Somehow, these unlikely circumstances may lead to this game actually getting finished and released, eventually.
