E3 2021 returned with plenty of exciting announcements, with highly-anticipated games including FromSoftware's Elden Ring making an appearance during the week. While there were many new surprises that are sure to get fans thrilled in the coming months, there was a noticeable absence of some already announced titles.
Ubisoft's highly anticipated Beyond Good and Evil 2 is definitely one such title, which has seemingly been in the works for more than a decade now. While the infamously silent and long mysterious Elden Ring has now broken silence, Beyond Good and Evil 2 looks to be on the way for taking that throne.
Parallels Between Elden Ring and Beyond Good and Evil 2
Despite both games being radically different in nature of story and gameplay, there are a lot of parallels between the two. While Elden Ring's gargantuan hype can be attributed to a collaboration between writer George R.R. Martin and Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is mostly a highly-anticipated sequel to a beloved game. Beyond Good and Evil has become a cult-classic over the years, and the announcement of the sequel surprised many fans.
Hype for both titles has grown to massive levels, with communities such as the games' subreddits filled with fan-art and speculative posts about them, with some fans even going as far as writing fake Elden Ring lore. FromSoftware and Bandai Namco have already broken the silence on the game, and Elden Ring is now slated to release early next year. However, there's still little to no information about Beyond Good and Evil 2, and fans are understandably worried that the game might be in development hell of some kind.
A (Little) Longer Than Elden Ring
Elden Ring's development cycle has been a little longer than what's usual with FromSoftware titles, but it looks like the wait is finally over. The sentiment can't be echoed in the case of Beyond Good and Evil 2 though, since the game began pre-production as early as 2007. Game director Michel Ancel has now left Ubisoft in search of greener pastures now, but the game is still being actively worked upon to this date.
There have been no updates on the game since 2018, where Beyond Good and Evil 2 made an E3 appearance, as well as received a pre-alpha demo walkthrough which included fan creations in a richly realized Ganesha City. Many fans were understandably hoping to see the game make a return at E3 2021, but to many a fan's dismay, it didn't happen.
Given the expansive nature of the project, Beyond Good and Evil 2 will still take quite a bit of time to develop, given it doesn't ultimately get canned. Despite the demo looking a bit rough, there's still a lot of potential in the game. Given Ubisoft's pedigree at crafting expansive open worlds, achieving the fantasy of being a space pirate doesn't seem too far-fetched. However, it's also equally important to not hold one's breath for too long, since the absence of the game at this year's Forward event has made its future a lot blurrier.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development.