In June, on the eve of the discharge of Past Good & Evil – Twentieth Anniversary Version, writer Ubisoft made a stunning announcement: The sequel to that sport, Past Good and Evil 2, was nonetheless in improvement, the corporate mentioned. It was the primary official replace on the sequel, which has been within the works for a staggering 17 years, since 2021.
To indicate that it was critical about lastly delivering Past Good and Evil 2 in some unspecified time in the future, Ubisoft even put a brand new teaser for the sequel in its remaster of the unique Past Good & Evil. A brand new treasure hunt within the anniversary version “reveals extra concerning the narrative hyperlink to Past Good and Evil 2, displaying Ubisoft’s enduring dedication to the franchise,” the corporate mentioned.
That narrative hyperlink was rapidly found by gamers. It reveals a holographic message to protagonist Jade from Dakini, Jade’s mom determine and the captain of the area pirate ship Gada. Along with the heartfelt recording, Dakini presents Jade with quite a lot of artifacts tied to characters who will seem in Past Good and Evil 2 — a prequel to the unique sport.
The collectible artifacts embody a compass from Dakini, a knife from chimpanzee pirate Knox, a chess piece from Gada engineer Callum, goggles from the pilot Yaashan, and a dreamcatcher from chief medical officer Uma. These characters — all of whom have been seen in Past Good and Evil 2’s 2018 cinematic trailer — are given further shade in a collection of multimedia discs that Jade can accumulate within the Twentieth-anniversary launch.
This new content material would seem to substantiate that Ubisoft plans on sticking with the beforehand revealed solid and setting of Past Good and Evil 2, which has seen a collection of ups and downs over its absurdly lengthy improvement timeline. Whether or not the model of Past Good and Evil 2 that finally comes out would be the huge open-world, single-player and cooperative shared universe that was beforehand promised — or one thing extra modest — stays to be seen.
However for a reminder of how we acquired right here, and what Ubisoft has mentioned about Past Good and Evil 2 over the previous decade and a half, learn on for a short historical past of the sport’s improvement.
Past Good and Evil 2 was first teased way back to 2007, when then-game director Michel Ancel teased a sequel within the pages of Nintendo Energy. “I’m at the moment engaged on a sport meaning lots to me,” Ancel mentioned, “the place the muse is immersion and a way of unbelievable journey.”
A yr later, Ancel himself would later announce the mission outright, telling French publication JeuxVideo, “I’ve been engaged on Past Good & Evil 2. We’ve been in pre-production for a yr. […] However for now, it’s on the draft stage. Ubisoft hasn’t given its approval but.”
Ubisoft launched the primary official take a look at Past Good and Evil 2 at its Ubidays ’08 occasion, teasing the return of characters Jade and Pey’j, however not outright naming the sport as a sequel to Past Good & Evil. The trailer was described by Ubisoft as consultant of the graphical constancy of the then-current-generation consoles: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
A yr after the sequel’s official reveal, a supposedly leaked gameplay trailer was printed on-line by numerous media shops. Ubisoft denied that it had deliberately leaked the footage, which confirmed a personality — seemingly Jade — operating by way of metropolis streets and escaping her pursuers by hijacking a supply helicopter. Ancel validated the authenticity of the leaked gameplay in an interview with Geoff Keighley, in what seemed to be a seamless back-and-forth between the sport director and his writer over methods to promote Past Good and Evil 2.
For the following decade, the destiny of Past Good and Evil 2 was unclear. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and Ancel mentioned in a number of interviews that the sport was nonetheless in improvement, however that different initiatives (Rayman Legends, Wild) had slowed or interrupted its progress. Ubisoft president Laurent Detoc appeared extra skeptical about BG&E 2’s destiny, telling Trade Avid gamers in 2009, “Whether or not or not it comes out stays to be seen.”
Past Good and Evil 2 resurfaced in 2016, when Ancel posted idea artwork for the sport to Instagram, hinting at its prequel setting and saying that the sport was nonetheless in “pre-production.” Ubisoft later specified in a Fb publish that BG&E 2 was “in improvement.”
At E3 2017, Ubisoft re-revealed Past Good and Evil 2 with a brand new cinematic trailer that launched a lot of the sport’s area pirate solid. Ancel and Ubisoft confirmed the sport was a prequel and that gamers would tackle the position of a personality of their very own creation. They wouldn’t play as Jade once more. Ancel additionally confirmed that earlier iterations of the sport proven practically a decade prior have been from a story sequel, and that the sport had modified considerably over the previous decade.
Ancel additionally confirmed a 14-minute gameplay demo of BG&E 2 that yr, which he described as “a combination between a technological demonstration of the engine that we name Voyager, and the precise sport with some gameplay components.”
The sport’s 2017 displaying additionally launched Ubisoft’s Area Monkey Program, an initiative that was pitched as a means for Past Good & Evil followers to “create artwork and music that can be built-in instantly within the sport.”
“The BGE group has already been creating unbelievable fan artwork, fan fiction, cosplay, music, [and] movies through the years, so we acquired to pondering of how for us to be extra inclusive to all group members,” Ubisoft’s description of this system reads. “Via our partnership with HitRecord, the group can take part much more instantly within the making of our sport.”
HitRecord is actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s firm and web site that serves as a “hub of collaboration for a group full of people that love making every kind of artwork collectively,” in accordance with Gordon-Levitt. The Area Monkey Program and HitRecord’s involvement instantly drew backlash, because it appeared that Ubisoft was asking its followers to contribute unpaid labor and spec work to the creation of Past Good and Evil 2, with the one return being the promise of “particular occasions and demos, and [to] be among the many first to play the sport.”
In 2018, Ubisoft put out a second cinematic trailer that explored the Gada area pirate crew and teased the return of a youthful Jade.
After this, Ubisoft and Ancel went quiet once more on the sport’s improvement. In September 2020, Ancel introduced on Instagram he had absolutely left Ubisoft, however that “[for] many months now the [Beyond Good and Evil 2 and Wild] groups are autonomous and the initiatives are going tremendous effectively.” The next month, Ancel mentioned he hadn’t labored instantly with the Ubisoft Montpellier group for practically two years, and mentioned he’d solely been engaged on the sport in an advisory position. That replace was in response to a report within the French newspaper Libération that had alleged harsh working circumstances on the sport and chaotic path from Ancel.
In 2021, Ubisoft supplied a cursory replace on the sequel, saying in a monetary assertion that Past Good and Evil 2 improvement was “progressing effectively.” However in 2023, the sport suffered a horrible blow; its inventive director, Emile Morel, died all of the sudden on the age of 40. Past Good & Evil – Twentieth Anniversary Version contains a small tribute to Morel: a bouquet of flowers and a card to the veteran sport designer.
The discharge of Past Good & Evil – Twentieth Anniversary Version and its contemporary narrative tie-ins to the (now) prequel is the strongest dedication we’ve seen from Ubisoft in years that followers will finally get a brand new sport within the franchise. Exterior of Jade’s and Pey’j’s cameo appearances within the animated collection Captain Laserhawk, it’s the one signal of life from Ubisoft with regard to getting BG&E 2 over the end line. However contemplating the writer’s stalwart dedication to video games like For Honor, Rainbow Six Siege, and the languishing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, there’s cause to consider that Past Good and Evil 2 will lastly get right here. Sometime.
