Op-ed: Ubisoft owes it to us to finish Beyond Good & Evil 2

This is an op-ed, not an investigation: it's our take, built on what Ubisoft itself has confirmed about the state of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Eighteen years after its first teaser and nine years after its re-reveal at E3 2017, the game is still "in development," a line Ubisoft has repeated so often it has stopped meaning much. After a brutal year for the company (threatened studios, layoffs, canceled projects), Pathline is taking a stance: leaving this project in limbo is no longer acceptable, not for the players waiting on it, and not for the teams still working on it.

A project that has outlasted any other AAA game

The original Beyond Good & Evil (2003), directed by Michel Ancel at Ubisoft Montpellier, is a critically acclaimed cult classic that was a commercial flop. A sequel was teased as early as 2008 at Ubidays, then went quiet for nearly a decade before resurfacing, completely reimagined, at Ubisoft's E3 2017 press conference: no longer a direct sequel, but a prequel set in System 3, centuries before Jade's birth. A community-driven initiative, the "Space Monkey Program," launched shortly after to involve fans in development.

Since then, silence has largely taken over again. In 2022, outlets including Push Square noted the game had surpassed Duke Nukem Forever, long the textbook example of endless development, and now holds the record for the longest known development cycle of any AAA game. Ubisoft Montpellier remains the lead studio, with occasional support from other teams across the group, including Ubisoft Bordeaux today.

A change in leadership, a tragedy, and increasingly rare confirmations

The project has also weathered internal turmoil. Michel Ancel left Ubisoft in September 2020, officially to dedicate himself to an animal sanctuary, while actually under an internal investigation into his management style, revealed shortly after by Libération; he has publicly denied the allegations against him. Writer and director Emile Morel took over as creative director and said the game was "well underway"; he died suddenly in July 2023, at age 40. Fawzi Mesmar now leads creative direction and has reaffirmed, via LinkedIn, that his team remains "committed and focused on delivering an exceptional game."

Public statements, meanwhile, have grown scarce. Livestreams dedicated to the game have stopped, and in January 2026 several outlets, including Fragster, noted that no release window, roadmap, or indication of production phase had surfaced in months. On September 22, 2026, it was an Ubisoft Bordeaux writer, Rik Godwin, who confirmed on Bluesky that he had spent recent months on the game in a support and consulting role, without offering further detail on actual progress.

Why this matters now, and didn't before

Beyond Good & Evil 2 survived the wave of restructuring and cancellations in January 2026, which notably claimed the Prince of Persia remake. We read that as a sign Ubisoft still sees the game as strategic, maybe even as proof the company can still carry an original IP beyond Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, the three franchises now handed to its new subsidiary Vantage Studios. But surviving the budget axe isn't the same as commitment: a game a publisher refuses to cancel while never showing it's moving forward can stay in that limbo indefinitely, year after year, accountable to no one.

Our position: after eighteen years, a creative director's death mid-project, and communication reduced to scattered confirmations on social media, Ubisoft owes its players, and its own teams, a clear choice. Either the game ships, in a form that honors what it cost to make. Or the publisher announces it and closes the chapter properly. What's no longer tenable is letting Beyond Good & Evil 2 exist as a totem Ubisoft waves at every restructuring to prove it still believes in original creation, without ever having to prove it with a date.

Sources

• Northeast Times: Ubisoft writer confirms Beyond Good & Evil 2 remains in development
• Fragster: Beyond Good & Evil 2 still in development as Ubisoft pushes back cancellation rumors
• Push Square: Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development longer than literally any game ever
• GamesRadar: Yes, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development, Ubisoft confirms after 4 years of silence
• Shacknews: Michel Ancel's Ubisoft exit followed by toxic workplace allegations

The bottom line

This remains an op-ed: our reading of public facts, not an announcement. The facts themselves are verified: Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development eighteen years after its first teaser, survived Ubisoft's latest round of cuts, and keeps getting confirmed in dribs and drabs by team members rather than through a proper official update. Pathline thinks that's gone on long enough: it's on Ubisoft to decide.