Beyond Good and Evil 2 wasn’t at Ubisoft Forward E3 2021, leaving the game’s status a mystery. Production on the title has continued on and off for over a decade. The devs first showed the current version of the game at E3 2017, and material trickled out steadily throughout the next couple of years. However, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was MIA throughout 2020 and this year, and its absence at E3 2021 isn’t good news for a title with such a convoluted development cycle.
Why did Beyond Good and Evil 2 miss E3 2021
Rumors of a Beyond Good and Evil sequel began in 2007 when director Michel Ancel hinted he was working on a project featuring Jade. Some work proceeded on the game, and both an official and a leaked trailer showed up in 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, the status of the game was in question until 2016. At that point, Ancel stated that Ubisoft halted development on the game at some point to work on Rayman Legends.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 was officially announced at E3 2017, and it was revealed at some point the game had turned into a prequel. The studio showed quite a bit of info about the game, and Ubisoft partnered (controversially) with Joseph Gordon-Levitt to bring fan-created art and music into the title. However, despite news trickling out over the last few years, it seems like development might have run into some issues as nothing new has been shown since late 2019.
Ansel left the project in September 2020, and sexual misconduct allegations against many senior designers throughout the company have led to a shuffling of personnel. Ansel stated that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was being left in good hands. Still, its absence was palpable given Ubisoft’s previous enthusiasm about the title.
Skull & Bones, another Ubisoft game with a troubled development cycle, also wasn’t shown at E3 2021. It’s unknown whether its still in production either.
