Ubisoft: I Am Alive and BG&E2 safe

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 May, 2011

Terminated projects were unannounced.

Those worried that I Am Alive and Beyond Good & Evil 2 have been cancelled need not.

Ubisoft has confirmed to Eurogamer that both games are safe and still in development.

Last night Ubisoft announced it had cancelled a number of planned titles as part of an internal restructuring exercise.

"Ubisoft has taken measures to adapt its structure to major changes in the industry by reorganising the roles and operations of its studios, which has resulted in the termination of certain projects," Ubisoft said in its financial report.

"Terminated projects were unannounced projects," a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer this morning.

However, when asked for an update on both games, all Ubisoft would offer was: "We have nothing new to report on those two titles for the moment."

Last we heard survival disaster game I Am Alive had been transformed from a full retail release into a PlayStation Network and Xbox Live download game.

In January 2010 we learnt that I Am Alive wouldn't be released until some time in or after April 2011. That, obviously, hasn't happened.

Developer Darkworks was booted off the project and I Am Alive was handed to Ubisoft's new Shanghai studio. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has mentioned the game was being "totally re-engineered", which could explain the switch to PSN and XBL.

In February Beyond Good & Evil HD producer Wang Xu told Eurogamer to "keep the faith" with regards to a sequel.

When asked whether the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network re-release was being used as a test balloon to gauge consumer interest in the franchise, Xu was similarly coy.

"Yes it is true; please buy Beyond Good & Evil HD if you want more BG&E games :)" he wrote, before adding, "For real... I don't know."

Following a brief teaser trailer unveiled in May 2008, Ubisoft has released no further formal information about the proposed sequel.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 1 year ago

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

  • menage #1 1 year ago

    YAY FOR BG&E2!!!!!!

  • cyacomini #2 1 year ago

    Now, give us a date for From Dust please. If I only buy 1 game this year, this is it.

  • Machetazo #3 1 year ago

    "Last we heard survival disaster game I Am Alive had been transformed from a full retail release into a PlayStation Network and Xbox Live download game. "

    I believe Jade Raymond later dismissed that as a hoax, dreampt up by a French gaming site. She was surprised it had gained such traction. As might be expected, though, the "update" wasn't so widely reported as the initial report.
    http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/02/02/i...

    I'm relieved that both are still on, and pleased that Ubisoft didn't leave the future of those titles in question for an extended time.
    Edited by Machetazo at 13/05/11 @ 11:37

  • Inmediasress #4 1 year ago

    I'm still not entirely relieved. I usually always doubt everything a publisher says especially if investors are in the picture.
    Tough I hope BG&E2 is alright.

  • God_Octo #5 1 year ago

    As Machetazo said, the PSN / Live rumour was faked- it is still a full on-disc game.It would be nice to see something from these two games, as they both look so promising, but we've seen piss all of them.

  • reelbigkris #6 1 year ago

    When the PSN is back up and running I will buy Beyond good & evil HD! I did buy it from get games on the PC but there seems to be some graphical glitches when running on PC... Plus, probably prefer a pad!

  • LHH #7 1 year ago

    Nice to know they're working on something that isn't a piece of shit

  • taurus82 #8 1 year ago

    But, is the Myst HD Collection still safe?

  • bad09 #9 1 year ago

    It's good I Am Alive is still...er alive. My interest died a little when we were told it would now be a FPS (such a neglected genre) but I'm still keeping an eye out for it as the last game set in an earthquake I played was bloody awesome (SOS: final Escape)....depending on whether "case by case" UbiDRM will infect it and scrub off my buy list of course.

    They need to pull their finger out though, it has been in development since at least 2008 with no info and a change of gameplay style, that's not really a good sign.

  • spekkeh #10 1 year ago

    Here's hoping for an E3 reveal.

  • Markusdragon #11 1 year ago

    I'm still convinced that BG&E isn't really being made, it's just Michel Ancel in an office with a group of minimum-wage actors pretending to be his devs to stop him from leaving Ubisoft, and to steal any ideas of his that sound like they could be the next Raving Rabbids.

  • Triggerhappytel #12 1 year ago

    They might not have been axed yet, but I'm still unconvinced either of these games will be getting released any time soon.

  • telboy007 #13 1 year ago

    I'm so happy I could cry.

  • VibratingDonkey #14 1 year ago

    @Machetazo
    Very funny JeuxVideo. I canceled my discounted pre-order. Of course that's my fault for not getting your hilarious and obvious joke.

    What a bunch of assholes.

  • rob_of_the_robots #15 1 year ago

    Is this the closest yet that we've got to confirmation that BG&E 2 is in development?

  • lucky_jim #16 1 year ago

    @rob- BG&E2 was confirmed quite some time ago, iirc Ancel said that it was a small team so it'd take a long time but they were definitely working on it.

  • sfp_noodle #17 1 year ago

    This will probably be negged to oblivion but......

    I just can't see BG&E 2 happening. They've released fuck all regarding screenshots, footage or info so what's makes anybody think it's coming? Look at it this way - if they don't reveal something at E3 then it isn't happening this gen. I loved the original, I really did, but c'mon be realistic. If something exists and is actively being developed then the devs want to show off their work ASAP. All Ubisoft shows off these days are crap Wii games and what has become a yearly franchise in Assassin's Creed.

    BG&E 2 isn't happening this gen, if at all. Nobody bought the original when it was released.The HD re-release is quite obviously a test and it looks like it failed. It was 800 bloody points on XBLA and still nobody bought it! Unless PSN numbers can greatly improve sales I really can't see Ubisoft advancing the game with any haste.

    Sorry if that upsets any of you, but that the way it looks right now. I'll happilly eat my own words if Ubi announce something concrete but otherwise, this is just not happening. As for I am Alive, likewise. Looked interesting, but in the 3 years since it's announcement what's come? Nothing. Ubisoft's baby right now is Assassin's Creed and they're just not going to bother working on a title nobody bought in the first place when they have one that's raking it in.
    Edited by sfp_noodle at 13/05/11 @ 15:26

  • Hindle #18 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • metalangel #19 1 year ago

    BG&E2 is safe. We spare your life... for now, Ubi.

    I Am Alive has an interesting concept but having people on the shore of the world's fifth largest freshwater lake killing each for a bottle of Evian just destroys my suspension of disbelief.

  • Collymilad #20 1 year ago

    @sfp_noodle

    Why would they explicitly say they were both in development now then wait till later to admit it? Surely any backlash now after the rumours had already laid down the groundwork would be less than one after saying it was in development, waiting a while then saying "Oh actually, no it's not"