In an interview with JeuxVideo Magazine, Michel Ancel (creator of Rayman and the original Beyond Good & Evil) is quoted as saying that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is in preproduction and has been for about a year or so:
We've been in preproduction for a year, and we're working on research in small teams. But, for the moment, it's just in the draft stage, and Ubisoft hasn't agreed to it yet.
According the rest of the article, about a dozen people are working on the project. Ancel wants to maintain continuity with the first game, and dropped some hints as to what that might imply: "Large variety of stages of play, lots of emotion in the gameplay, characters you can get attached to. This time, we're addressing the fate of the planet." He also mentioned that animals will play a role in the game, although there's very little elaboration on that point.
Considered one of the best games of 2003, the original Beyond Good & Evil was critically acclaimed but commercially panned. As someone who has very little faith in the creative capacities of the giant publishers in the industry, I'm glad that Ancel and his team are working on a new game. I can only hope that Ubisoft gives it the green light. Perhaps we'll get an official announcement at UbiDays -- coming on the heels of another BGE2 rumor, I think that's likely.
For any readers in France, the full interview is in JeuxVideo Magazine, no. 91.
[Via JeuxVideo, thanks, power-glove!]
No f'n way! YES!!!!
MAN I loved the Original Beyond Good and Evil. And it was one of the games that made 2003 the best year ever for games named after non-humanistic German Philosophers!
I don't neccesarily think the game was the second comming of our lord( I mean, for god sakes! It was a stealth action game!) But it was loaded with style, it was gourgeous, it had great charecters and terrific music/voice acting!
And it had a plot twist you saw comming from a mile away!
Ain't that grand! Too bad I'm the only person who gets frustrated by stealth mechanics. Maybe that part will be easier?
Also, I like games with a decidedly European feel.
I sure do hope they take on the design practices of Rare and turn this into a mix of The Sims and Cooking Mamma!
(snide comments aside, I'm totally excited over this!)
I wish I could say more but YES! :D
They're just talking about it, not actually making it. Don't get too excited yet. ;)
At the risk of incurring the wrath of the entire internet, I didn't like this game at all.
Wow, I never expected to see this! Great news!
Why is the original not BC?! I saw it at the store yesterday too
But this is good news
@Trailer -- it's not BC because they want you to buy the Xbox Originals from XBLA, fill up your harddrive, and buy a new one. Cheeky bastards.
I think i just creamed my pants...
It was just released on Steam for $8.95 the other day.
Keep your fingers crossed. For all we know, this could just go the way of Starcraft: Ghost and Project HAMMER.
This is still good news though. I'll finally have to pick up the original to see what the fuss is all about.
@Joseph
I know you are supposed to be at work. Why are you checking Destructoid.com, I wish I could be online all day at work, bastard.
This is great news, but I still don't want to get my hopes up.
Dr. Spaceman has ticks on his pubes.
I really wanted to like the first one, but I couldn't get past one ridiculoust thing in the game: The girls posture when she's walking. It annoyed me to no end, she looked like she had a giant dildo stuck somewhere. I'm sure that the game is great, and that I'm missing out, but I. can't. stand. it.
FUCK YEAH
Oh my blessed Beyond Good and Evil, I cry for you every night. You are the Firefly of video games, and it makes me sad :( Please come back. Come back to us!
Good news is good. i certainly hope Ubisoft do give this the go ahead because I would definately love another game in this series.
...can someone please hand me a towel? I had an...acccident.
If this comes out on the PS3, the day it is released is the day I pick one up. GTAIV didn't do it, MGS4 isn't going to...BG&E2 will. Crazy, but true.
*fap fap fap*
Animals played a big role in the last game as well... I wonder if it'll be a similar thing.
Duh. Surfer Girl was saying this for, like, forever.
I'm crossing my fingers while various burning effigies in sacrifice to the gaming Gods in the hopes that this game will see the light of day :D
This game will take forever to come out... eh... but what good game doesn't?
if this is true, it will make me a very happy boy
I will be the happiest man on the planet if this game actually gets made. :)
You've got to be kidding, this is amazing!
[b]THERE.
IS.
A.
GOD.
AFTER.
ALL.[/b]
You heard it here first. :D
OH YES
BG&E: Best. Bargain Bin Laden. Evar.
Thank you for showing me the way, Destructioid.
FUCK YES
Oh God I'm so happy right now
@ ElfShotTheFood
I didn't hate it myself, but yeah, I didn't love it as much as everyone else seemed to either.
So I guess I'm...I dunno, semi-excited? Eh.
Great news!
god what took them so long?! it should have been in preproduction before i even got a chance to see the credits on the first one!
Its great Ubi are listenin to fans and giving them what they want. I wonder if they will keep the style with a remix or go with a more realistic approach, now graphics have progressed on a bit.
I may have to backtrack and check out the first one. 03 was a busy year.
I really liked the first game. I liked the way it blended game play (driving, action, puzzles) even the photography angle was a nice change of pace (this was before Dead Rising and BioShock) and it had a compelling story that was well acted.
But the biggest thing in my opinion was it had an ending that just screamed sequal. But it never came.
This is a blessing in disguise. We might possible get an awesome sequal to an awesome game on the next gen platforms after developers have had time to work out the kinks in the systems.
Sure a top notch last gen game would have been cool, but would have been lost in the shuffle. And as a launch title it probably would not have impressed that much, but we might get it now. Horay!
What platform would it come out on? PC?
This is great! The original just came out on Steam, by the way.
I hope that this ends up being true. BG&E2! EVERYONE, LET'S GO TO CHAD'S HOUSE FOR A DOLPHIN PARTY! WOOO!
Ubisoft seems to be more interested in war games these days than games with fewer body counts like Beyond Good & Evil. Wish they'd support a sequel or sell the rights to the game already. fence sitting aint making no one happy.
I think I might need a change of pants... BG&E is one of my favorite games EVAR!!!
This is great news. I hope it is true. Beyond Good and Evil is one of the best games of the past generation and I feared that we would never see a sequel considering nobody bought the game. I can't wait to hear more info.
I want. I WANT. WANNNT! WANT DO, DO WANT! WANT WANT DO. DO DO WANT WANT, DO DO WANT WANT!
I wonder what platform it would be on. Wii would be fun, what with the photography part, or PS360 for the graphics. Then again graphics be damned, if they released BG&E2 looking exactly like the original, I'd still buy it.
I seriously almost just did a spit take. I never thought I'd see the day when this came up. I hope Ubisoft gets on board with it, and if not, then I hope some other publisher picks it up.
Note to self: buy the game that everyone loves and is now getting a sequel.
God I suck.