It’s hard to believe: a game announced nearly eighteen years ago, and this is what survives the restructurings…!?
The biggest story of the week is undoubtedly Ubisoft’s major shake-up. It canceled six projects (including the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake), delayed seven more, and kicked off four new IPs – and that’s only what we know from its portfolio. The company’s entire structure has been reshaped, yet one long-running project has somehow made it through the chaos: Beyond Good & Evil 2 (BG&E2).
A game that was said to be years away from release (after already spending 14 years in development when that report surfaced four years ago) is, in Ubisoft’s view, still worth funding. The publisher continues to argue that BG&E2 has something on offer that remains unique compared to other modern fantasy titles.
A Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer that BG&E2 is still part of the company’s portfolio and development roadmap, and that it aligns with its strategy of focusing on open-world adventures. They also claimed that fantasy fans aren’t being served enough, and that BG&E2 remains a distinct proposition for players.
We’ve known the project has been in development at Ubisoft since 2008, when it was first revealed. The last official trailer dates back to E3 2017. And while Ubisoft concluded that the six to seven years poured into the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake were ultimately beyond saving, the nearly 18 years spent on BG&E2 apparently don’t trouble management (under which the company has lost 95% of its value over the past eight years). As recently as last November, the publisher was still hiring for the project.
Who knows whether this game will ever ship. If it does and it succeeds, that’s great for Ubisoft and for anyone who’s effectively waited 20 years to play it. But it’s more likely that, regardless of the final build’s quality, no game – including BG&E2 – can realistically live up to expectations inflated by two decades of development.
If anything, a development this long tends to produce more people expecting the worst. The fact that work is still ongoing, and that players are still waiting, speaks to the mark left by the first game – which can thankfully still be played, and should remain playable for years to come now that the remastered version of Beyond Good & Evil is available.
When it finally arrives (if it arrives at all), will anyone even care? Reviving something old is always a gamble, especially when you’re asking today’s audience – who didn’t grow up with it – to suddenly care.
