While Ubisoft has announced that many of its projects have been cancelled as part of a larger organizational overhaul, one report indicates that the long-in-development Beyond Good and Evil 2 has somehow escaped this fate. The report, courtesy of Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson, cites unnamed sources stating that it is still under active development for now.
These sources have noted that the rocky development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 has involved constant changes and pushbacks, and has cost Ubisoft more than $500 million so far. However, the company seemingly still sees value in continuing its development.
The development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been a storied one, and the title has reportedly gone through several reboots along the way. The current iteration of the title is noted to be in development since 2017, which would mean that it has been worked on in some form for almost an entire decade. The game was originally announced all the way back in 2008 with a short teaser, and if it eventually does come out, will be considered to have the longest development time in gaming history.
The last time any mention of Beyond Good and Evil 2 was spotted was a job listing from back in November that indicated that development was still ongoing. The listing was for a Lead Quest Designer, and confirmed that the title is being made with Ubisoft’s proprietary Voyager engine. Among the responsibilities of the role are to craft main and secondary quests that offer “significant choices” and “engaging consequences”.
Back in December 2024, former Ubisoft veteran and Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel spoke about the management issues that caused the long development period for Beyond Good and Evil 2. Rather than there being one big individual problem, he noted that the project had suffered from “a whole series of key issues that remained unresolved at management level, including myself.”
“In the end, it’s all a case of passionate managers who didn’t get along,” he said. “I believe that some time ago, these people were dismissed and the project found a certain balance with new managers. These management problems are of course very damaging for the teams. All this goes to show that it’s not an easy job: lots of egos and lots at stake, with clearly room for improvement in terms of human management.”
Ubisoft itself had reiterated that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is “still in development” back in June 2024. The statement was made leading up to the release of Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition.
As for Ubisoft, its organizational overhaul involves splitting the company up into five distinct “Creative Houses”, each of which will be responsible for specific genres and franchises. Along with this, the company has also confirmed that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has been cancelled, and that it will continue with its cost-cutting measures going forward. In response, French game industry union Solidaires Informatique has called for a half-day strike asking the company to stop with its cost-cutting, offer more support for remote work, and to provide its employees with “decent” pay raises this year.
