In a rare interview, Michel Ancel said that problems between management caused Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development issues.
The new interview came from French outlet Superpouvoir, where Ancel answered elaberated on the development issues of Beyond Good and Evil 2 and where he believes some of the accusations of toxic management, of which he denies, originates.
“On BGE2, for example, there were too many problems between managers. The artistic director wanted to redo everything constantly, and the game director wanted to make a game of generated dungeons. I dreamed of a space adventure. We could not agree and the game director took the project in other directions,” he said.
Ancel continued, “In this type of situation, teams find themselves tossed around and don’t even know who’s in charge and making decisions. The producer is supposed to sort things out, but that didn’t happen. Yves Guillemot even had to go down to Montpellier to get things back on track, but that wasn’t enough and the game director continued in his stubbornness. When I read in Libé that I was the one directing the game and asking for changes, I thought I was going to choke. BGE2 is the game on which I don’t think I’ve ever questioned a decision.”
Michal Ancel left Ubisoft in 2020 to spend time in a wildlife sanctuary following burnout while working on games. One week later, though, accusations of toxic leadership by Ancel began to circulate, which Ancel firmly denied and continues to do so.
As of the time of writing, Ubisoft’s Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development. After nearly two years of development, it finally found its footing in early 2017. Speaking with sources, the game is still a couple of years out, though. We’ll share some exclusive details on the game later this week.
What do you think of the issues surrounding Beyond Good and Evil 2? Do you think it will ever be released? Let us know how it’s going on the Insider Gaming forum.
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Not to excuse you either. Fans wanted a proper Beyond Good & Evil 2 continuing the story of the first game not the prequel and now it’s probably Neverland going to happen. Same with Rayman 4. Ubisoft is trash and can’t make anything good.
Wish we got a proper sequel. Sad alongside Splinter Cell and Princess Of Persia.