Beyond Good and Evil 2 was rebooted to be a ‘solo first’ game

Beyond Good and Evil 2 has remained in pre-production ever since its re-reveal back in 2017. Everyone has been wondering exactly why the game has taken so long, but a new report has shed light on the situation. As it turns out, the game has been rebooted multiple times, with earlier versions targeting a multiplayer-first approach. The latest iteration of the game is now a ‘solo first' adventure instead. 

Origami cites multiple sources close to the game's development. The report states that between 2019 and 2022, the idea for Beyond Good and Evil 2 was to make it a “highly multiplayer” game, with the goal of becoming a ‘third place' for groups of friends to meet up digitally, similarly to big live service titles.

Since then, the public sentiment around live service games has shifted and the economic realities of creating such a game have caused issues for developers all across the industry. Epic Games had to fire thousands of developers due to Fortnite hitting a growth wall. Bungie also had to get rid of half of its studio, and almost gave up on Destiny entirely due to financial struggles. Newer studios trying to crack the live service market for the first time have had to shut down their projects within months too.

The good news for Beyond Good and Evil fans is that, none of this live service stuff appears to be part of the plan anymore. The report goes on to say that at this stage, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is being worked on by around 250 developers, with the goal of making the game a ‘solo first' adventure, bolstered by co-op.

KitGuru Says: Apparently, the current version of Beyond Good and Evil 2 is moving towards alpha, which would lead right into full production, so the game may finally be moving ahead after almost a decade of exploring different ideas.