The creator of Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil, Michel Ancel, who left Ubisoft in 2020, shared details of the development of the long-suffering Beyond Good and Evil 2 in an interview with Superpouvoir.
Image source: Ubisoft
Let’s remember that Beyond Good and Evil 2 was confirmed back in 2008 and reintroduced in 2017, but development continues to stall – the project is still several years away from release.
According to Ansel, in the case of Beyond Good and Evil 2 (and other games), the team took on the work without fully understanding how long and difficult it would be, which led to too many disputes between “passionate managers”.
“The art director wanted to redo everything over and over again, the head of development wanted a dungeon generation game, and I dreamed of a space adventure. We couldn’t come to an agreement, and the game director took the project in other directions.”said Ansel.
Still from the 2008 teaser
In situations without clear leadership, Ansel added, the teams themselves suffer the most. To resolve conflicts, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot visited the office, but his efforts were not enough.
Ansel does not consider himself to be the culprit of all the troubles of the game – there is no single villain in this story, only a series of “unresolved key issues”– however, he admitted that he should have “better protect the project, participate more and reconcile employees”.
Previously, Ubisoft confirmed that the development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 continues, and the project has changed its creative director. With new management, Ansel assured, the game “found some balance”.
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