Beyond Good & Evil 2’s Development Has Been Stalled

Beyond Good & Evil series creator Michel Ancel shared details in an interview about the problems Ubisoft Montpellier encountered during the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Ancel described the project as one in which a passionate development team set themselves great challenges, but set out without knowing how long and complex the path ahead would be.

Leaders’ Differences of Opinion Impacted the Development of Beyond Good & Evil 2

According to Ancel, there were many problems between the people responsible for the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. He explained that the art director wanted to do everything over and over again, the game director wanted to make a manufactured dungeon game, and he envisioned a space adventure. They disagreed, and the director took the project in different directions.

In such cases, he said, the development team was tossed around and didn’t know who was responsible and who was making the decisions. He said that the producer, who should have brought order to the situation, was not able to put things in order. He said that even Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s visit to Montpellier to try to put things back on track was not enough, and that the game’s director continued to be stubborn.

Ancel also mentioned that local media had spread misinformation about his role in the development of the sequel. He said that he had read that he was the one running the show and asking for changes, but that this was not true, and that he never questioned the decisions made by the other creative leaders.

He said that ultimately, this was a case of passionate development leaders who could not get along. He said that there was no single big bad guy, but a series of key issues that remained unresolved at the management level. While he did not absolve himself of blame, he admitted that he should have defended the project better, been more present and been more conciliatory with the team.

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