Some games take years to make. Others stretch long enough to become gaming legends, discovered more for their development limbo than any promised innovation. Hollow Knight: Silksong and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are just two recent games that took off development with little to no information from their respective studios. Ubisoft has a similar project, and 17 years after its initial reveal, Ubisoft’s most persistent enigma has resurfaced once again. Not with a trailer, gameplay demo, or release date, but with something else: new job listings.
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Beyond Good and Evil 2 was first announced in 2008, but disappeared until it was rerevealed with an impressive trailer in 2017. While Ubisoft hasn’t provided an official update since 2020, a new job listing for a Technical Sound Designer has been spotted, hinting at things heating up for the legendary sequel. The official description offers insight into the project.
“Under the supervision of the Audio Director at the Montpellier studio, you will provide technical solutions for integrating and implementing audio systems to ensure that the audio assets created by the team work as intended, in line with the Audio Director’s vision.”
Ubisoft has had multiple job listings open over the past few months, but this appears to be the first directly related to the long-overdue game. It remains to be seen if anything actually comes of this job posting. After all, it has been 17 years since Beyond Good and Evil 2 was first revealed, and Ubisoft hasn’t shown any meaningful progress in years.
Still, the trailers we have seen of the ambitious space opera game have shown a promising premise. With open traversal, ship-to-ship combat, multiplayer, and more, it’s no wonder Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been trapped in development hell. Ubisoft is blending many different elements and game mechanics into a single project, and the game appears to be beyond the scope of the studio’s normal titles.
17 years is a long time for a game to be in development. While we don’t know the full story of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s progress, we know other Ubisoft games have had some trouble in the past. Skull and Bones, the first “AAAA” game, is notorious for its difficult history, which ultimately resulted in a subpar product. The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake has also been heavily rumored, and may actually be released soon. Let’s just hope that Beyond Good and Evil 2 can get some traction this time around.
As the industry grows, video game development has become more lengthy and costly. 17 years is certainly one of the longest turnarounds, but it is not necessarily a surprise. With hardware changing, graphics improving, and players demanding more from a game, developers need more time to deliver. While some developers eventually cross the finish line, some just don’t ship a game, or worse, ship one that isn’t ready.
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