Beyond Good & Evil 2 has a new lead writer five years after the game was first announced. Progress has been exceptionally slow on the game, leading some to question if it even remains a growing concern. But today’s announcement makes it clear that Ubisoft still intends to complete the Beyond Good & Evil sequel after all this time.
Sarah Arellano has updated her Twitter to announce becoming the lead writer on Beyond Good & Evil 2. She previously worked at Volition writing for the upcoming Saints Row reboot before moving to Blizzard to be a narrative designer for World of Warcraft.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 has had quite the lengthy development cycle. First announced in 2017 with a bombastic trailer, Ubisoft has since been largely silent on the game. There were a few videos posted through 2018 and early 2019 that showed elements of gameplay and new mechanics, but since then there hasn’t been much.
A report in February said Beyond Good & Evil 2 was still in pre-production, and Ubisoft was still hiring staff for the game as of May. Today’s announcement seems to indicate that not all is well with Beyond Good & Evil 2 if Ubisoft is still hiring key positions after five years.
Ever since Ubisoft was rocked by multiple scandals in the summer of 2020, the French developer has struggled to retain talent. A report from late last year noted veteran talent have been leaving Ubisoft in a "great exodus," with workers calling attrition a "cut artery." This has led to multiple games either being canceled or delayed as Ubisoft struggles to retain key talent.
A recent report from A Better Ubisoft notes that the company continues to lose talent as it refuses to enact necessary reforms. A year after penning an open letter to Ubisoft management, A Better Ubisoft notes that none of its demands have been met.