Emile Morel was only forty when he left us (for unknown reasons)…

As a game designer at Ubisoft, Emile Morel was recently tasked by the French publisher to bring Beyond Good & Evil 2 somehow (from now on just BG&E2), which had been announced for years, to the finish line as creative director. With franchise creator Michel Ancel had left the gaming industry years ago amidst sexual harassment issues that had hit the French company hard, it wasn’t an easy task, as Ancel is now working on the wildlife (but not the game he announced for PlayStation 4 nine years ago, WiLD).

Greg Hermittant, a producer at Ubisoft Montpellier, announced the death of his colleague on LinkedIn: “Rest in peace, my dear Emile Morel. You’ve been such a great and kind partner all these years at Ubisoft. I’m grateful to have worked with you on so many projects. Even through the most difficult times, you always remained the caring and supportive person you were with your beautiful positive mind. Be assured we will continue your work.”

He was joined by M. Gabrielle Shrager, former Narrative Director for BG&E2: “A cherished colleague for over a decade at Ubisoft Montpellier, we laughed and wept through good times and bad, and shipped a lot [of] great games together. Emile was proud of Beyond Good and Evil 2, the Space Monkeys, and his teammates. He will be sorely missed.”

According to Morel’s LinkedIn, he worked at Eden Games for nearly four years (his name appears in the credits for Alone in the Dark and Test Drive Unlimited 2) before joining Ubisoft in 2009, where he worked on projects such as The Adventures of Tintin and Rayman Legends. According to Kotaku, he became the creative director of BG&E2 thanks to a mix-up at Ubisoft Montpellier during the labor investigations (many people burned out and asked for sick leave…). Still, before that, he had worked on the game, which has been in (not?) development for over 15 years, in a similar but assistant role.

May he rest in peace.

Source: PCGamer