Beyond Good and Evil 2might not have yet left development hell, newly emerged evidence suggests. This update on the repeatedly delayed project arrives just a few months afterUbisoft confirmed thatBeyond Good and Evil 2is still in development.
First teased 15 years ago, the sequel toBeyond Good and Evilwas originally treated to a reveal trailer at E3 2017. Ubisoft has made precious little progress on the project ever since, as underlined by the fact thatBeyond Good and Evil 2recently overtook Duke Nukem as history’s most-delayed AAA game.
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An April 18 job listing from Ubisoft Barcelona has now offered some new insights into the troubled project, although its implications appear to be bad news for fans. The posting advertises an opening for a senior concept artist who would work onBeyond Good and Evil 2, with the very name of that role suggesting the game is nowhere near completion. Not least because concept artists are mainly involved in the pre-production stage of game development, as the main purpose of their work is to provide references for modelers, environment artists, and animators.
Prior to its latest confirmation that the game is still in the works, UbisoftlabeledBeyond Good and Evil 2as an “active development” endeavorin July 2022. That term originates from the movie industry and is often used to classify projects that have left pre-production, although this newly surfaced listing implies that’s either not the case here, or thatbeyond Good and Evil 2returned to the drawing board at some point since last summer. Alternatively, it’s plausible that Ubisoft simply used a more liberal definition of “active development” on that occasion.
The newly unearthed job listing might also provide a clue as to whyBeyond Good and Evil 2is still stuck at a stage that requires concept art. Namely, the posting states that Ubisoft Barcelona is currently also working on multiple “unannounced AAA projects,” in addition to supportingRainbow Six Siegeand being involved in aBeyond Good and Evilsequel. That’s quite a lot on the plate of a company that has under 200 employees, according to its official LinkedIn page.
On the other hand, most major Ubisoft games have long involved the company’s studios from all over the world, andBeyond Good and Evil 2is no exception to that convergent development strategy. According to previous shareholder disclosures, the work on the much-delayed adventure is actually being led by Ubisoft Montpellier, indicating that its Spanish sister company is at most assisting with the project. Yet the fact that the mainBeyond Good and Evil 2developer is currently under a labor investigationdoesn’t exactly inspire hope that the game will see the light of day anytime soon, irrespective of Ubisoft’s recent job market activity.
Beyond Good and Evil 2is in development.
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