Beyond Good & Evil 2 still in development, Ubisoft insists
Despite other recent cancellations and financial concerns.
The long-awaited but still nebulous Beyond Good & Evil 2 remains in development at Ubisoft despite last week's round of game cancellations.
Three unannounced Ubisoft games were canned last week, on top of the four ditched last July. These latest cancellations follow a round of poor financial results and concern over the company's future portfolio - something which has also battered Ubisoft's stock price.
Ubisoft's statement on the matter admitted it would continue on with "increased cautiousness over the coming years" as the games industry shifts towards "mega-brands and long-lasting titles" - something which raised questions as to where Beyond Good & Evil 2 fitted in.
However, Ubisoft has now assured Eurogamer that the long-awaited spacefaring adventure sequel remains safe - for now.
"Beyond Good and Evil 2's development is under way and the team is hard at work to deliver on its ambitious promise," a Ubisoft spokesperson told me today.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 holds the record for the longest development period for a major video game - having originally been announced more than 15 years ago. It has repeatedly slipped in and out of active development ever since.
At E3 2017, a fresh CGI trailer for the title trumpeted a new phase of development, with semi-regular updates from the game's creator Michel Ancel over the next year. Ubisoft re-committed to the project again when Ancel left the company in 2020, despite questions over what state the game had been left in.
Now, two and a half years later, Ubisoft has again gone quiet on the project - even if it appears safe from the chopping block for the time being.
The last public update on its development came in August last year, as former Blizzard narrative designer Sarah Arellano joined the project as its lead writer.