The development of Ubisoft Montpellier’s Beyond Good & Evil 2 struggled due to conflicts between the game’s creative leads, according to the series creator.
During an interview, Beyond Good & Evil series creator Michel Ancel shared details regarding the issues faced by Ubisoft Montpellier during the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. He described the project as one where a passionate development team set itself huge challenges, but without knowing how long and complex the road ahead would be. As per him, passion is a fabulous energy, but it can also lead to clashes between enthusiasts, and Beyond Good & Evil 2 is one such case.
According to Ancel, there were too many problems between those in charge of the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. He elaborated that the art director wanted to redo everything over and over again, the game director wanted to make a generated dungeon title, and he himself had envisioned a space adventure. They simply couldn’t agree, and the director took the project in other directions.
Ancel explained that, in this type of situation, the development team is thrown around and doesn’t know who’s in charge and who’s making the decisions. He mentioned that the producer, who is supposed to bring order to the situation, couldn’t get things sorted out. Even Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot going to Montpellier to get things back on track wasn’t enough, and, according to Ancel, the game’s director continued in his stubbornness.
The Beyond Good & Evil series creator also talked about the local media spreading false information about his involvement in the sequel’s development. He mentioned reading that he was the one running the show and asking for changes. However, that wasn’t the case, as he said that he never questioned a single decision made by the other creative leads.
Ancel said that, at the end of the day, it’s all a case of passionate development leads not getting along. According to him, there wasn’t just one big villain, but a whole series of key issues that remained unresolved at management level. He didn’t exonerate himself from blame either, as he said that should have defended the project better, been more present and more conciliatory with the staff.
