Summary
Ubisoft veteran Michel Ancel revealed that a lot ofBeyond Good and Evil 2’s previous development issues stemmed from creative differences between the project’s various leads, including himself. He did so as part of a recent interview that shed more light on what exactly went wrong with the earlier iterations ofBeyond Good and Evil 2.
June 12 marked the seventh anniversary of Ubisoft premiering theBeyond Good and Evilcinematic trailer at E3 2017. This was eight whole years after the game was first teased. AlthoughUbisoft has repeatedly maintained thatBeyond Good and Evil 2remains in the works, the company has shared little about its progress more than 15 years after committing to the project.
In an early December 2024 interview with French outletSuperpouvoir, former Ubisoft official Michel Ancel shared some new insights about what exactly went wrong with the long-awaited game. According to him, a lot of the prior development difficulties thatBeyond Good and Evil 2encountered were a result of disagreements between the top people in charge of the project. “The art director wanted to redo everything over and over again, the game director wanted to make a game of generated dungeons, and I dreamed of a space adventure,” the famous designer recalled.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Has Been Hitting One Roadblock After Another in Recent years
Ultimately, “the game director took the project in other directions,” the industry veteran told Superpouvoir. Seeing howAncel departed from theBeyond Good and Evil 2team and Ubisoft itselfin 2020, the game director he referenced was ostensibly Jean-Marc Geffroy, who was hired to help with the project in 2017 and remained at the helm until he was replaced by Emile Morel in early 2023.
The art director wanted to redo everything over and over again, the game director wanted to make a game of generated dungeons, and I dreamed of a space adventure.
This management turmoil wasn’t the end of the game’s difficulties.Morel passed away merely half a year after being appointed to leadBeyond Good and Evil 2. His role was eventually filled by Fawzi Mesmar, who previously served as Ubisoft’s Global Creative VP since November 2021, and announced his new position in October 2024. Reflecting on all this staff turnover, Ancel told Superpouvoir that he believesBeyond Good and Evil 2has now achieved “a certain balance” with its new leadership. He also acknowledged that he bears some responsibility for all the creative disagreements that troubled the project in the past.
Ancel Confirms Involvement in New Rayman Game
And while the circumstances surrounding the game’s development are no longer looking as chaotic as they did up until recently, it’s still unclear how far alongBeyond Good and Evil 2has progressed. Ancel, for his part, remains semi-retired from game development, and is still focused on running his open wildlife animal sanctuary that he started back when he left Ubisoft in 2020. One recent report suggestedhe returned in a consulting capacity to assist with the remake ofRayman, the iconic 1995 platformer he created. Ancel has now seemingly confirmed as much to Superpouvoir, stating that he “had a lot of fun working onRaymanagain,” albeit without disclosing any specifics about the project itself.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
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