“Thank you for everyone who has reached out to me over the past few days in regards to recent news at Ubisoft,” he wrote. “Myself, my team and our project Beyond Good and Evil 2 are unaffected by the recent changes.”

“Needless to say, I am saddened by the cancellations that has affected my colleagues in other parts of Ubisoft and the industry. I urge everyone – myself included – to offer support whenever and however they can during these times.“

Mesmar capped off his message by mentioning that the team remains “committed and focused on delivering a remarkable game for our players to enjoy.”

Beyond Good and Evil 2‘s survival amidst Ubisoft’s recent cancellations came to light through rumors, with sources noting that the company has invested more than $500 million in its development so far. The current iteration of the project has been in development since 2017, and let’s not forget about its initial announcement in 2008.

Shortly after these rumors surfaced, Ubisoft itself released a statement where it reaffirmed that Beyond Good and Evil 2 remains one of the focal points of its “Open World Adventures” strategy. “Beyond Good and Evil will be part of Creative House 4, dedicated to immersive fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes. Beyond Good and Evil 2 remains a priority for us in the context of our strategy centered around Open World Adventures,” said the company.

Ubisoft announced its major changes last week, confirming that it had cancelled five projects, including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake as part of larger overhauls with its operations. This was described by the company as a “major organizational, operational, and portfolio reset to reclaim creative leadership and restore sustainable growth.”

Part of this is the company’s new approach to development, which revolves around five “Creative Houses”, each of which will be in charge of certain franchises, genres, and even market segments. Creative House 2, for instance, will work on competitive and co-operative shooters, with franchises like Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell and The Division. Creative House 5, on the other hand, will work on casual and family-friendly games like Just Dance, Ketchapp and Uno.

Ubisoft has also confirmed that it has started working on four new IPs, one of which is the recently-acquired March of Giants—a MOBA that will have a focus on “tactical depth” and “meaningful team play”.

While you wait for Beyond Good and Evil 2 to come out someday, you can spend time with the seminal first game, which is currently available in the form of its 20th Anniversary Edition release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. Check out our review for more details.

“Beyond Good and Evil will be part of Creative House 4, dedicated to immersive fantasy worlds and narrative-driven universes. Beyond Good and Evil 2 remains a priority for us in the context of our strategy centered around Open World Adventures.”

Which is all well and good, if not for the fact that it was first announced in 2008 and re-announced at E3 2017. Development has seen numerous delays and departures of creative figures, including Michel Ancel, who directed the original. He would later claim that there wasn’t a “single big villain but a sum of key concerns, unresolved at the level of the managers, of which I was a part” that contributed to the sequel’s problems.

The last “official” update from Ubisoft was in June 2024, when it assured that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development. However, a job listing from November 2025 also provided evidence of its ongoing production, but at this point, it’s difficult to see how far it’s progressed (if at all).

If it’s any consolation, at least Ancel’s other notable creation, Rayman, is apparently making some headway. The Australian Certification Board recently rated Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition, and rumors indicate that Rayman Legends is getting a remake. If the latter performs well, we may even see Rayman 4 in development at some point, but it probably wouldn’t release before 2030.

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 has been noted as 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, it will be considered to have the longest development time in gaming history.

The last time there was any mention of Beyond Good and Evil 2 was a job listing from November. It was for a Lead Quest Designer, and confirmed that the title is 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. 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 provide its employees with “decent” pay raises this year.

While not too many details about Beyond Good and Evil 2 have been confirmed through the job listing, it does reveal that it is being made using the company’s own proprietary Voyager engine. As for the job itself, the Lead Quest Designer will be responsible for managing a Quest Designer team that works in collaboration with Narration and Design teams.

“In collaboration with the Narration and Design teams, you will participate in the design and implementation of the narrative arcs of quests and associated systems, for which you will be responsible,” reads the job description (via machine translation). “Your mission will be to align your team’s needs and deliverables with the creative direction of the project and the associated constraints. This position is directly attached to the Narrative Director.”

The Lead Quest Designer will work on main and secondary quests of Beyond Good and Evil 2, and will focus on designing a player experience that offers “significant choices” and “engaging consequences”.

The last time Beyond Good and Evil 2 was brought up was all the way back in December 2024, with former Ubisoft veteran Michel Ancel talking about management issues that ultimately resulted in the title being stuck in development for so long. Ancel has been known for his hand in creating Beyond Good and Evil as well as Rayman, and had left Ubisoft back in 2020. While Ancel had sopken about a number of different experiences he had during the development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, he believes its fate ultimately comes down to “passionate managers who didn’t get along”.

“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.”

“There wasn’t just one big villain, but a whole series of key issues that remained unresolved at management level, including myself,” he continued further in the interview. “I have my share of responsibility and I should have defended the project better, been more present and more conciliatory with the staff.”

Ubisoft had noted back in June 2024 that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development, however, while it was celebrating the (at the time) upcoming release of Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. For more details about that release, check out our review.

Unsurprisingly, Ancel points to management issues, explaining that creative leads on the project were pulling in different directions, as a result of which progress was rarely made. Interestingly, reports published by French outlet Libé claimed Ancel’s problematic management had been one of the issues faced by the project, something that he says he was surprised to read about.

“On some projects, we set ourselves huge challenges and take on teams with passion, but without knowing how long and complex the road ahead will be,” Ancel said (translation via DeepL). “Passion is a fabulous energy, but it can also lead to clashes between enthusiasts. On BGE2, for example, there were too many problems between managers. The art director wanted to redo everything over and over again, the game director wanted to make a generated dungeon game and I was dreaming of a space adventure. We simply couldn’t agree, and the game director took the project in other directions.

“In this type of situation, the teams are thrown around and don’t even know who’s in charge and who’s making the decisions. The producer is supposed to bring order to the situation, but that hasn’t happened. [Ubisoft CEO] Yves Guillemot even had to go down to Montpellier to get things back on track, but that wasn’t enough and the game director continued in his obstinacy. When I read in Libé that I was the one running the game and asking for changes, I thought I was going to choke. BGE2 is the one game where I don’t think I’ve ever questioned a decision. I’d be delighted to discuss this with any detractors.”

Ancel went on to suggest that Ubisoft eventually rebooted the project with new leadership, before continuing that management issues were obviously bad for the dev team’s morale, and talking about his own role in the same.

“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.

“There’s a huge difference between developing a BGE2 requiring new technology and a project with known tech and gameplay. I think that for a long time, the complexity of such a project was beyond many people at Ubisoft… and also in the press, which didn’t hesitate to make shortcuts to sell papers at the time of the Paris affairs.

“There wasn’t just one big villain, but a whole series of key issues that remained unresolved at management level, including myself. I have my share of responsibility and I should have defended the project better, been more present and more conciliatory with the staff.”

As recently as earlier this year, Ubisoft reassured that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development, though further details on the project are scarce.

Ahead of Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition’s imminent launch, the company recently published a thread on Twitter in which it has provided further details on the remaster. In that thread, Ubisoft has also reiterated that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is “still in development”, before reminding everyone that the upcoming 20th Anniversary Edition will feature a new, exclusive mission that will tie into Beyond Good and Evil 2 by revealing more about protagonist Jade’s past.

Back in 2022, it was claimed in reports that Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development team was still struggling to nail down a direction for the game, and that it was still in the early stages of development at the time, and as such, several years away from release. Ubisoft Montpellier, the studio working as the lead developer on Beyond Good and Evil 2 has reportedly faced several behind-the-scenes development and production issues.

A recent leak claimed that a new trailer of the long-awaited sequel has been ready at Ubisoft for about a year, though it remains to be seen how long it’ll be before the company showcases the game again.

Meanwhile, Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition releases on June 25 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Yes, Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development, and we cannot wait for you to discover more about Jade’s past in the 20th Anniversary Edition! ☀️

— Beyond Good and Evil (@bgegame) June 24, 2024

As mentioned on its official website, Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is going to feature an exclusive, new mission that will tie into Beyond Good and Evil 2. Specifically, players will “learn more about Jade’s childhood and her link to Beyond Good and Evil 2” on a new treasure hunt.

What exactly that means for Beyond Good and Evil 2 itself remains to be seen. In the years that have passed since its announcement, little to no updates have been offered on it. Though Ubisoft has insisted that the game remains in the works, reports have spoken about its many development issues, reboots, delays, and what have you.

Allegedly, as of 2022, the project was still “years away” from being released. A recent report claimed that Ubisoft has had a new trailer ready for the game for “about a year”, though the game was not part of the lineup of titles showcased at the Ubisoft Forward event earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition launches on June 25 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

That’s as per journalist Tom Henderson. Taking recently to Twitter, he claimed that Ubisoft has had a new trailer of Beyond Good and Evil 2 ready “for about a year”- though whether or not it will be showcased at any of the upcoming events is anyone’s guess, apparently.

Summer Game Fest is scheduled for later today at 2 PM Pacific, with Xbox Games Showcase following on June 9 and Ubisoft Forward on June 10. A new trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2 could potentially be at any of these events, though given the lack of progress that has plagued this project for so long, we wouldn’t be surprised if it just remained MIA instead.

Of course, last November, Ubisoft also unveiled an enhanced version of the original game in the form of Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition. More details on it were supposed to be revealed in early 2024, which hasn’t ended up panning out. It remains to be seen whether Ubisoft will remedy that in the coming days.

I know it’s a meme at this point, but a BG&E2 trailer has been ready for about a year… It would be nice to actually see it this weekend – or at the very least a BG&E 20th anniversary release date (which was meant to release months ago).

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) June 7, 2024

Agent

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Agent, Rockstar’s electrifying spy opus. First announced as a PS3 exclusive way back in 2009, Agent pledged a Cold War era thrill-ride through the dangerous world of espionage, counterintelligence, and assassination, but much like the silent death knell of a secret agent, Agent’s fate has been silently snuffed. Rockstar have never officially announced its cancellation, so technically Agent could still be in the works. Given the evocative concept art which leaked a while back, let’s hope so – Agent looked great.

Slitterhead

Gory body horror from Team Silent originators meant Slitterhead’s 2021 announcement was met with much fanfare. Even – exclaim expectant fans – Silent Hill composer-in-chief Akira Yamaoka is along for the ride, lending his blend of warped ambience and bone-crushing guitar riffage to the game’s grisly take on shape-shifting parasites. Last we heard of Slitterhead was a dev diary back in June 2023, so not that long ago, meaning, you know, that Slitterhead is probably still in the works. Be nice to hear something affirmative as to release dates from Bokeh Game Studio though.

Ferocious

If it weren’t for the devlogs shared on February 26^th and April 15^th, we’d think prehistoric survive-a-thon Ferocious had gone extinct. This first-person shooter risks being overshadowed by incoming Jurassic Park: Survival if it doesn’t drop soon, but to be fair it’s blend of jungle stealth, strategy, and survival – with a healthy dose of axe swinging mayhem – looks spot on. Let’s hope the situation at developer OMYOG isn’t as grim as the game’s dinosaur infested isolation.

Pragmata

The sci-fi dad-in-space adventure Pragmata has been delayed indefinitely, so we at least know that this ambitious game has vanished for sure. Why though, the developer haven’t stated. Announced in 2020 with numerous release dates coming and going, the most recent of which was last year which passed without explanation. Even stranger was the developer releasing a brief trailer before the mysterious delaying – almost to remind us it exists before flinging into a black hole. Pragmata might not be in the deepest of development hells, but a window on when we can get our hands on it drifts endlessly further.

Perfect Dark

Just what has happened to Joanna Dark’s rebooted saga? Announced at The Game Awards 2020 with little data forthcoming in the three-and-a-half years since, this Xbox exclusive is likely a number of years from release. What does this mean for Perfect Dark? Well, nothing probably, just that development is probably happening at a very slow pace. The incredible graphics, slick movement, and tight gunplay will remain we hope.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Despite little evidence, this long-awaited sequel to 2003 Beyond Good and Evil is apparently still in the works. First announced in 2008, it’s genuinely farcical how back in the developer stated in an investor call that development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in its early stages despite contrarily announcing progress as trundling along nicely. The tragic sudden death of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s creative director might understandably have scuppered progress since, but the outlook for this game was bleak either way.

Project Awakening

Let’s be honest, how awesome was Project Awakening’s gameplay reveal? The slick, lifelike dragon slaying looked truly next-gen, but with radio silence for what seems like eons now, maybe next-gen at the time meant next next-gen. The Japanese developer behind Project Awakening Cygames isn’t some faceless corporation though, with Granblue Fantasy: Relink the most recent of their output. Most likely is Project Awakening has been shelved despite it still being listed on the developer’s website as a ‘next-gen’ title advertised as PS4 exclusive.

PLAN 8

This exo-suit MMO shooter was announced in 2019, yet in what is an increasingly crowded sphere of the video game-verse PLAN 8 still seems like it has enough to stand out in 2024. Shame then that the most recent glimpses on its progress date back to screenshots shared in January 2020. The writings on the wall with this one: it’s dead in the water. The developers are supposedly still working on the title but it’s next-gen, genre-defying announcement is going to be woefully out of date by now.

Everwild

Hopefully still incoming from legendary British studio Rare, now owned by Microsoft, is magical nature adventure Everwild. We say hopefully as the glimpses we’ve seen are utterly spellbinding. An MMO in the vein of Sea of Thieves but in a fantasy setting, Everwild looks to meld multiple genres and gameplay mechanics in what is a hugely ambitious project. Every scene in the trailers seen so far look like oil paintings so let’s hope an official reveal is not too far away.

ILL

One of the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo games that drum up reasonable hype but never actually see the light of day, ILL has immense intrigue in it’s The Evil Within-­style torment spliced within a setting reminiscent of John Carpenter’s The Thing. This narrative driven first-person horror has all the ingredients to be a game changer, it’s just that tech demos are hard to believe at the best of times, let alone for a game with little to no update barring a glimpse into gameplay over six months ago.

The Last Night

This is a strange one, as the most hype-accelerating aspect to The Last Night was a tweet some five-or-so years ago which shared a screengrab of its cyberpunk aesthetic comparing it to The Matrix. The loss of esteemed indie game publisher Raw Fury and controversy surrounding game director Tim Soret have likely contributed to The Last Night’s lengthy development., the former especially as developer Odd Tales had to work to reclaim their publishing rights. 19^th November 2023 was the last official update we had of The Last Night. It’s likely still in development, just that progress has been stifled by misfortune.

Vigilancer 2099

This one will ride on the coattails of Cyberpunk 2077 when it eventually drops, it’s neon-soaked cityscapes are so reminiscent of Night City. In Vigilancer 2099 you’ll play as a secretive bounty hunter in a densely populated open world, with limitless traversal options on hand to get to grips with the verticality of Vigilancer’s megabuilding. There’s been next to no news for a couple of years now, so maybe this small-team developer has unfortunately folded.

Splinter Cell Remake

From rumour to full-blown conclusion, it’s been a few years now that a remake to Sam Fisher’s first outing in Splinter Cell has been on the go, but at present it doesn’t feel like we’re close to reliving Sam’s formative missions. For what it’s worth, Splinter Cell remake is confirmed to feature an updated story that will appeal to a modern audience. As and when we get to relive the game, we don’t know, but info will hopefully be forthcoming soon.

Routine

Nearly a decade after it was first announced, sci-fi moon base horror Routine received a new trailer during Summer Game Fest 2022. It’s 80’s retro-future and creepy atmosphere conjure a deep feeling of dread through juxtaposition of style and gameplay, and whilst development has been restarted at least once since its original announcement the aforementioned indie publisher Raw Fury is on board to see this one through to completion. Routine looks genuinely exceptional.

Deep Down

Despite being near completion and never being officially cancelled action role-player Deep Down has still never been released. Instead, this souls like game has been treated to titbits of info over the years since its first announcement in 2013. The developer stated in 2019 that hope wasn’t completely lost on Deep Down, but all hope has all but died. Development might always pick up again seeing as the assets were reportedly close to conclusion, but there’s no sign of that presently.

Starfield 

Set in the far reaches of space, Starfield looks set to take the Bethesda RPG formula into an entirely new dimension – and it looks nothing short of breathtaking. You get to explore over a hundred different planets brimming with quests to track and people to meet, and the choices that you make during these quests will ultimately dictate the outcome of this adventure. Between a solid gameplay loop and impressive NASA-Punk designs, Starfield is looking to be worth all the hype and anticipation. It releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S on September 8, 2023.