In a post on Instagram, series creator Michel Ancel reveals why Beyond Good and Evil 2 has taken so long to develop, also detailing the features of his "dream game."

Initially confirmed in 2008, Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been a long time coming. In the eight years since that first announcement, the game's publisher Ubisoft has been forced to state repeatedly that the game hasn't been cancelled, though the reveal that it is only in pre-production, despite all of this time having passed, hasn't inspired fans' confidence.

As series creator Michel Ancel continues to tease fans, posting several pieces of concept art for the game, he has once again taken to Instagram but this time it's to reveal why it has taken so long. The developer has shared several pieces of character art from 2008, explaining that back then Beyond Good and Evil 2 was "playable with many prototypes."

Videos were in "realtime," says Ancel, but there were "technical issues," meaning that the team was unable to make the game of its dreams, which would include "planet exploration, space travel," and cities. These features were also supposed to be in the first Beyond Good and Evil.

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"Now," reveals Ancel, "the tech is ready and the team is fantastic." The developer seems incredibly enthusiastic about the game's progress even if there is still "loooooots of work to do." All of this work perhaps explains why the Beyond Good and Evil 2 release date is rumored to be all the way in 2018.

Interestingly, Ancel's Instagram caption directly refers to the upcoming game as Beyond Good and Evil 2. According to some rumors, the new game will not be called BG&E 2 upon release and will have a subtitle instead. That same source suggested that the game will be a semi-reboot (rather than a direct sequel), hence the decision to drop the number from the title.

In the comments of the post, Ancel also states that there are "no specific platforms for now," seemingly responding to rumors that Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be a Nintendo NX exclusive. There is also some speculation that the game will be revealed via a CGI trailer at the Nintendo NX reveal event (which Nintendo has yet to publicly set a date for). So, while it's highly likely that Ancel is just trying to throw people off of the scent or not disappoint gamers who want to play the title on PC, PS4 or Xbox One, it certainly casts a shadow of doubt over those NX exclusivity rumors.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 is currently in development, but it is unclear as to which platforms it will be on.

Source: Instagram