Ubisoft

Many of the problems with the creation of the game were levelled at Ancel’s leadership style, according to a report by French outlet, Libération. However, despite his leaving over two years ago, there has been not a glimmer of footage under its new leadership. Despite the announcement that former Blizzard writer Sarah Arellano had joined the project in August last year, there still seemed very little reason to believe it was happening.

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But not so, say Ubisoft, whom we’ve contacted to ask for more details. Although the question we haven’t asked is: why? Why bother now? 2003's Beyond Good & Evil was a truly wonderful game, offering a gentle mix of third-person platforming, wildlife photography, and a genuinely lovely story. But that was two decades ago, and everything we’ve seen of the supposed sequel in the years since has felt severely tonally differentand mysteriously obsessed with monkeys. Epic and expensive-looking CGI trailers have been great to watch, but suggested nothing of the actual game, while 2018's in-game pre-alpha footage looked dated and incomprehensively bland.

Ubisoft

It feels to me like that saddest of projects: a game that exists to exist, with no visibly greater motivation to be. As a huge fan of the original game, I once longed for a sequel, but not any more. And especially not given how everything that’s been shown of it—from its ridiculous Starfield-like over-ambition to its f-bomb-filled bullshot CGI videos—has felt like it has nothing at all to do with the game I loved.

Still, it seems vanishingly unlikely that we’ll ever be troubled by its being released.