Beyond Good and Evil 2 Struggled Due to “Problems Between Managers,” Series Creator Says

As a long-time fan of Beyond Good and Evil, it is disheartening to hear about the tumultuous development journey of its sequel. Michel Ancel’s insights into the project’s challenges are both enlightening and saddening. It seems that creative visions clashing and poor management were significant factors in the game’s troubled development.

The anticipated sequel to “Beyond Good and Evil 2” has faced one of the most chaotic and mismanaged development processes for a game in recent or even distant past, encountering numerous hurdles such as repeated delays, development restarts, leadership changes, and more. In an interview with French media outlet Superpouvoir, Michel Ancel – the inventor of “Rayman” and the original creator of “Beyond Good and Evil,” who departed from Ubisoft in 2020 – provided additional insight into the challenges that the problematic sequel faced behind the scenes.

It’s not surprising that Ancel attributes delays in the project to disagreements among the creative leads, as they seemed to have conflicting visions. However, it’s intriguing to note that a French publication, Libé, reported that poor management on his part was one of the challenges faced by the project – something he claims he found surprising to read.

Speaking as a fellow enthusiast, I often find myself taking on ambitious projects with teams bursting with passion, yet the journey ahead is shrouded in uncertainty and intricacy. Passion may fuel our drive, but it can also lead to disagreements among like-minded individuals. For instance, during the development of BGE2, there were significant differences of opinion among team members. The art director was determined to continually rework everything, the game director aimed for a generated dungeon game, and I yearned for a space adventure. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find common ground, and the project veered off in other directions under the game director’s leadership.

In such circumstances, teams can become disoriented, unsure of their leaders and the decision-making process. The role of the producer is to bring clarity, but that hasn’t materialized. Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft, had to intervene in Montpellier, but it didn’t resolve the issue, and the game director remained stubborn. When I learned that I was supposedly overseeing the project and pushing for adjustments from Libé, I felt shocked. I’ve rarely doubted decisions in BGE2, and discussing this with skeptics would be a pleasure.

Ancel further stated that eventually, Ubisoft decided to revitalize the project under new leadership. He added that it’s clear that managerial problems had a detrimental impact on the developers’ spirits, and he himself was also part of this scenario.

Ultimately, the issue boils down to conflicting managers who couldn’t see eye-to-eye, he explained. Previously, these individuals were let go, and the project seems to have stabilized with new leadership. These managerial disputes can certainly wreak havoc on teams. This situation underscores the challenge of management: many strong personalities and high stakes involved, leaving plenty of opportunity for growth in people management skills.

There’s a significant gap between creating a new game like BGE2, which necessitates innovative technology, and working on a project that utilizes existing tech and mechanics. I believe for quite some time, the intricacy of such a project exceeded the capabilities of many individuals at Ubisoft… and even the media, who often took liberties to boost sales during the Paris events by oversimplifying the matter.

Instead of focusing on a single antagonist, it became clear that there were numerous significant problems that went unsolved at the management tier, including myself. I acknowledge my part in this predicament and wish I had advocated stronger for the project, been more engaged, and more accommodating towards the team members.

Just a few months ago, Ubisoft confirmed that “Beyond Good and Evil 2” was indeed being worked on, but they’ve been fairly tight-lipped about the specifics of the project.

2024-12-09 19:41

Read More