Guillemot urges "patience" with BG&E2

By Robert Purchese Published 20 August, 2010

Because "it will be perfect".

Yves Guillemot, captain of the Ubisoft ship, has asked that you are patient with the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. What Michel Ancel is creating, he said, will be "perfect".

"We were, as we are, working on the game. What is very import with this next product is that it will be perfect," Guillemot told Kotaku at gamescom.

"[Michel Ancel's] intention is to come [out] with something really exciting. But everybody needs a little bit of patience."

Beyond Good & Evil, the original, is held aloft as an example of what a third-person action adventure can achieve. Despite hefty critical acclaim, however, the game floundered in shops.

"I would say the game was very well appreciated by the people who played it," accepted Guillemot. "But we didn't have enough people when it was launched.

"After its time it become a very recognised product."

Earlier this summer, Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel explained how he was using a small team to make the sequel in order to "preserve creativity".

Beyond Good & Evil 2 was revealed way back at UbiDays 2008 - a publisher event that existed briefly while E3 struggled to find an identity. That UbiDays cinematic remains all we've seen of the game so far.

Bacon track, you could say.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • el_pollo_diablo #1 2 years ago

    Take your time guys, make the game you want to make. Delays are always worth it.

  • kestral #2 2 years ago

    If you haven't played it, go do it now. It's in the same category as Zelda.

  • Kami #3 2 years ago

    As much as I want it, I second el_pollo_diablo. I'd much rather they took their time and created a worthy sequel to an amazing game than rush out a game and it not live up to the first.

    But still... seven, eight years of teasing with that ending? NAUGHTY! *spanks Ubisoft's behind*

  • Eraser #4 2 years ago

    Yeah I know how that works with games developers that want their game to be "perfect". They never reach that level of perfection because no matter how perfect, it always has to be more perfect. Then they end up never releasing it because they run out of funds.

  • kangarootoo #5 2 years ago

    I always worry about games that take a very long time to make. The expectation among gamers builds and builds to a oint where it can never realistically be satisfied. We will end up looking at BG&E2 with eyes that have forgotten that the first one ever had any flaws.

  • OldMan #6 2 years ago

    BG&E is one of my all time favourite games. Done right, I think think this sequel could fill a huge, ugly gap in the shooter-dominated 360 lineup -- which could mean commercial success too:).

  • Wheatley #7 2 years ago

    We've been very fortunate to get a sequel, seeing as the first was a complete commercial failure.

    I just hope Ubisoft make an effort to better publicise this one and that people who enjoy innovative, original games show their support by buying it on day one.

  • Garfy #8 2 years ago

    "Bacon track"

    Groan, that's worse that Dragon quest 9's puns :)

  • darkmorgado #9 2 years ago

    Take your time guys, make the game you want to make. Delays are always worth it.

    Daikatan, Prey, DNF and FF13 say hi!

  • Farfarer #10 2 years ago

    Take your time over it, dudes. Let it be great :D

  • geeza2020 #11 2 years ago

    This has tempted me to go back and play the original again. I want to sneak around taking pics of stuff!!

  • Kaminari #12 2 years ago

    Most people didn't play BGE (that's a hard fact), and most people who heard about it back then forgot about it 8 years later. Unfortunately, it's going to take much more than a "little bit of patience" to make that franchise successful with the mainstream audience. And while long-time fans of BGE1 can still whip out their PS2 copy in order to refresh their memories, what about Joe Average? Does he actually care?

    The sequel has not even been 8 years in the making -- Ancel was merely allowed to work on it for the last year or so. Ubisoft has been keeping him locked in the closet like Sega did with Suzuki. Given how the production staff is very small (and let's face it, it has nothing to do with a "design" decision), my worst fear is that the game will end up as a casual title in order to cash in on the popularity of the first episode. The risk is real, anyway.
    Edited by Kaminari at 20/08/10 @ 12:24

  • ChthonicEcho #13 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado
    Prey is a bad example. It wasn't delayed to be perfected, it was delayed because technology simply wasn't there to realise the concept when it was first announced.

  • telboy007 #14 2 years ago

    Hurrah, news about B&GE 2!!!!! :D

  • 32768Colours #15 2 years ago

    It'll be nice if they release the original game on XBLA / PSN. That way anyone who hasn't played it before (or hasn't played it since it came out like me) will know/remember where the story is up to. That, and the fact that it's a very good game in it's own right and deserves the wider audience it never had.

  • Vin #16 2 years ago

    This gen would be nice.

  • chudders #17 2 years ago

    BG&E is the best thing to come out of France since I returned from a school holiday there in 1994.

  • superted1974 #18 2 years ago

    Does anyone think if they put the first game on xbox live and ps3 store for say a £7 they would make some decent money with it. So much has been said about it since it was released.

  • Rack #19 2 years ago

    On the one hand patience may well be rewarded with a better game, and might even give Ubisoft time to drop their monstrous DRM requirements. On the other, is this really coming out? Really?

  • bratmandu #20 2 years ago

    @kestral

    BG&E is much, much better than any Zelda. BG&E actually has an incredibly decent, non-recycled story, and is much more immersive. Only thing Zelda has on BGE is maybe the music.

  • Toothball #21 2 years ago

    Delay works for me, as I might yet find the time to play the first one. I picked it up during a Steam sale, just need to get through everything else I get cheap on Steam.

  • Markitron #22 2 years ago

    So this is confirmation that its DEF coming out then?

  • Markusdragon #23 2 years ago

    It's nice that this seems to have support up at the top of the company. What with all the shovelware that Ubisoft have been producing, and the continuous rehashes of ageing bestsellers I was getting worried that this would be cancelled in favour of a re-imagining of Imagine: Party Babyz.

    BG&E is the only stealth game I've ever loved. Tell a lie, BG&E was the only stealth game I ever loved before Batman: Arkham Asylum.

  • Aradiel #24 2 years ago

    XBLA or PSN release for the original? Why not just go to Good Old Games where it's somewhere around $9.99 and higher resolution?

  • Zebula77 #25 2 years ago

    Absolutely loved the first one, tho I have to admit I don't remember too much of the story. Don't have the original copy still, so I hope there's a "previously on Beyond Good & Evil" at the start of this one. :p

  • kangarootoo #26 2 years ago

    "Only thing Zelda has on BGE is maybe the music."

    I'm not overly familiar with Zelda tunes, but BG&E has some of the best video game music ever made.

    See for yourselves.
    http://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soun...

  • bratmandu #27 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Oh I agree the music in BG&E is sublime - but the music in zelda is legendary, it's just a shame they keep re-skinning the same game every couple of years.

    I mean, if you haven't heard Team Teamwork's rap remixes of Zelda music - well, you really should look it up.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8TgQbki1Ik
    Edited by bratmandu at 20/08/10 @ 14:52

  • kangarootoo #28 2 years ago

    Those remixes are brilliant :)

  • dingo75 #29 2 years ago

    Yves do us a favor and leave Ubifail already!
    While you are packing: That the fucking Ubilauncher with you!
    You will certainly not be missed.

  • Slipstream #30 2 years ago

    I've no problem with the game taking YEARS if they had to make do it right. Just some consistancy with reassurance is all I'm asking for.

  • Miths #31 2 years ago

    So a release date after GT5 (possibly) but quite likely before Diablo III? :)

  • BuntyHoven #32 2 years ago

    What a great Christmas that was, back in '03. BG&E and Prince of Perisa:SoT. Two great games and at a cut price on release too.
    If only those numpties at Ubisoft had used a bigger marketing budget and really got behind the games, they could have ended up with two solid franchises.
    Instead they cast BG&E aside and dicked around with PoP's winning formula, trying to second-guess what was 'in' and going all dark, brooding and meh.

  • Guildenstern #33 2 years ago

    I totally trust in the ability of modern Ubisoft to make this game justice. Not.

  • jonnex #34 2 years ago

    Delay for another 5 years if that's what it takes; the first Beyond Good & Evil was so good, and so darn fresh, that they should take all the time they can to make the second what it deserves to be. I can't wait to play it, I hope Ancel pulls a right treat out of his pocket.

  • pixel_junkie #35 2 years ago

    At least we finally got some news about it. I really thought they canceled the whole project.