Just over 15 years after being announced by series creator Michel Ancel, new footage of Beyond Good and Evil 2 appeared online before quickly being taken down. The long-awaited sequel has faced significant development delays in the years since it was first revealed.
New Beyond Good and Evil 2 footage was posted online before being removed due to copyright claims
As spotted by Eurogamer, new footage from Beyond Good and Evil 2 was posted online this week giving gamers a glimpse of an early version of the game.
The footage, which was quickly taken down due to copyright claims, was posted on Twitter by the fan account BGandE Myth. Found in the online portfolio of animator Damien Barranco. Barranco had worked on the original Beyond Good and Evil along with several other Ubisoft titles; the footage was reportedly from a build of the sequel from 2008.
The follow-up to 2003’s cult classic original, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was first teased by series creator Michel Ancel in early 2008. Ancel’s announcement was followed later that year by a short teaser trailer featuring the first game’s protagonist, Jade, and her “sus sapien” sidekick Pey’j. While these early previews of the work-in-progress were warmly welcomed by fans of the original, the visually stunning sequel quickly found itself facing an uncertain future as the game faced repeated delays.
New Beyond Good and Evil 2 footage, described by Ancel at the time as a mix between a tech demo and an actual game, was published following E3 2017. However, news about the game’s development soon dried up once again.
Development on the sequel faced another major setback in late 2020 when Michel Ancel announced his retirement from gaming. While Ancel assured franchise fans that development on the long-overdue sequel was “going super well” under new leadership, many gamers began to suspect that Beyond Good and Evil 2 might never release despite statements to the contrary. The project’s future was once again called into question following the unexpected death of Beyond Good and Evil 2 creative director Emilie Morel earlier this year.
With the future of its follow-up still uncertain, gamers may just have to wait for the release of the rumored Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition to step back into the franchise’s wildly original world.
