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Michel Ancel talks about the future of Beyond Good & Evil 2 with Tim Schafer
In his spare time, Double Fine’s Tim Schafer also hosts Devs Play, a webseries where he invites developers to visit the Double Fine office to play their classic games. Michel Ancel, the creator of Rayman, recently closed out the second season with an in-depth discussion of Beyond Good & Evil. Naturally, Schafer (and his co-host, Greg Rice), couldn’t resist asking about Beyond Good & Evil 2.
As usual, Ancel tried to steer the conversation away from the long-in-development sequel, but he did admit that the pressure to live up to the reputation of the first game is substantial (the exchange starts around the 48-minute mark):
Michel Ancel: We did a nice trailer for Beyond Good & Evil 2…
Greg Rice: What can you say about Beyond Good & Evil 2?
Tim Schafer: Yeah, tell us everything we should know about Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Michel Ancel: Um… maybe we could continue playing Beyond Good & Evil 1. That’s the problem, [we have] no choice. [Beyond Good & Evil 2] has to be great. When we started [Beyond Good & Evil] there was not that much pressure. The crazy thing is that [Beyond Good & Evil] was really not that successful and nobody talked about the game. And Miyamoto talked about the game at E3 and wasn’t very happy. […] And now, year after year, more and more people are talking about [Beyond Good & Evil 2].
And towards the very end of the episode (at 1:07), Ancel admits that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in the works:
Tim Schafer: You’re still in the headspace of this game because you’re making a sequel right. You’re thinking about [the Beyond Good & Evil] world still.
Michel Ancel: Yeah, but it’s difficult because it’s hard for me to redo the same game two times. I don’t know how you’re going to manage that for Psychonauts 2.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 was first revealed during Ubisoft’s Ubidays event in 2008. Ancel has spoken about the game a handful of times since then, but it looks like we’ve still got a very long wait ahead of us… if it ever comes out at all.
Ubisoft CEO says its “too early” to talk about Beyond Good & Evil 2
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is one of the more outspoken executives in the entire video game industry, which is why The Guardian tracked him down at the 2015 E3 Expo to ask about Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Beyond Good & Evil was released in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim and the support of a fervent fan following. In 2008, a sequel was revealed during Ubisoft’s then-annual Ubidays show, but development updates have been slow to materialize since then. Fans got their hopes up in 2011 when Ubisoft released Beyond Good & Evil HD for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but four long years passed before they got their next glimpse at the game, when developer Michel Ancel showed a piece of concept art featuring series protagonist Jade.
Upholding this tradition, Guillemot was enigmatic with The Guardian, but also encouraging. According to the CEO, the game (which he never refers to by name) is still in development, but it’s too early to talk about:
However, the Guardian met Yves Guillemot, who co-founded Ubisoft in 1986, at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, and asked directly whether Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development. He replied: “I can’t say the name, but there is a team working with Michel Ancel on a project that is… very interesting.”
When pressed on the connection between this new project and Beyond Good and Evil, Guillemot said: “It’s a game I’m sure you will like very much, and we can’t say more.”
Ancel previously told reporters that development began on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in 2007, so if Guillemot is telling the truth, our decade-long wait may be just the beginning.
Continue Countdown #2 – The Evil Within, Borderlands: Pre-Sequel, Super Mario 20, More
The second episode of Warp Zoned’s “Continue Countdown” is now available to watch through our YouTube channel. It’s a PAX East kind of show as Editor-In-Chief John Scalzo, Staff Writer Mike Ryan, and special guest Adam Woolcott discuss the blandness of The Evil Within, the bizarreness of The Behemoth’s Game 4, and the baffling choice to put Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The trio also delves into the Console War Between the PS4 and Xbox One, next-gen remakes like The Last of Us Remastered, and whether the inclusion of Marvel characters will affect our decision to purchase Disney Infinity 2.0. Finally, they looked at yet another piece of Beyond Good & Evil 2 concept art, the release date gap between the 3DS and Wii U versions of Super Smash Bros. 4, and the quasi-announcement of Super Mario Bros. 20.
9 Topics… 30 Minutes… And Go!
Posted in 3DS, PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Beyond Good and Evil 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, PAX East 2014, Pit People, Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, The Evil Within, The Last of Us
Michel Ancel teases concept art from Beyond Good & Evil 2
I know it’s been a long time, but Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development at Ubisoft under the direction of Michel Ancel. Further proof of the game’s continued existence was delivered by Ancel himself a few weeks ago during a Q&A session with BG&E Myth. At 2:06 in the video above, Ancel unfurls a poster showing Jade’s new character design. The image shows Jade wearing clothes and in a pose very similar to traditional Japanese drawings of samurai and ronin.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 is in development for next-generation consoles and will be released eventually. Probably a few years from now after several more teases like this one.
Michel Ancel says Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development
Despite a whole decade since Ubisoft’s original appeared, it seems that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will prove naysayers wrong by climbing into the cold light of day. However, unlike the recent HD re-release on Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, the franchise will be seeking a home on the next generation of consoles, if we are to believe Michel Ancel, the original game’s creator. He has (once again) been quoted as saying the game is in “the active creation stage,” explaining further:
“I can say that it’s a very ambitious game and we need some tech to achieve that ambition. We focus on the game. We create it first, then we’ll see what can run it. We don’t say 2013 because we don’t know when it will come. We’re working to create a great game and it needs more tech.”
However, it has been four years since Ubisoft debuted a teaser trailer for the sequel at their short-lived Ubidays conference in 2008. A short time before that, Ancel himself stated at the Video Games Live show in Paris that BG&E2 had been in development for 18 months, suggesting that the project was perhaps put on hiatus, only to be revived by the original’s HD re-release in 2011, but retooled for the next generation. Could it be they are gearing it up for release on Nintendo’s Wii U (or perhaps the PS4 or Xbox 720)? The Wii U’s tablet controller would certainly be a good match with Jade’s camera.
[Source: Destructoid]
Beyond Good & Evil 2 is beyond current generation’s grasp
There’s been plenty of E3-related news over the last few days, but how about a bit of E3 “non-news.” Rayman creator Michel Ancel revealed that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will not be released for this generation of consoles. However, the acclaimed developer confirmed that the game is still in development and is in no danger of being canceled:
“It is still alive and we are very far [into] development so we can’t go back now,” Ancel said. “We are targeting the next generation of consoles.”
The franchise has never really been forgotten as fans have been clamoring for more on the sequel since it was announced back in 2008. A high definition remake of the first Beyond Good & Evil was released on the Xbox Live Arcade in March. It will be added to the PlayStation Network any day now.
[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]