A Hidden Masterpiece! – The History of Beyond Good and Evil
The mid-2000s were a formative period for Ubisoft. New studios joined its repertoire and bolstered its stature as an international brand. Old studios came into their own with classic series that would define the generation. And series that would come to be classics in the next generation were slowly being cultivated for their future stardom.
Yet to many gamers, nothing defined this era of Ubisoft more than Beyond Good & Evil. The culmination of nearly four years of work at Ubisoft Montpellier to craft the ultimate action-adventure game, Beyond cast players as Jade, an investigative reporter tasked with uncovering a conspiracy that threatens her homeworld’s future, and repelling the machinations of a dastardly alien threat. While parts of its varied design evoked comparisons to Zelda and Ratchet & Clank, the whole of the experience was unlike anything else before it; an epic journey that balanced eccentricity and seriousness with considerable finesse, and proved emotionally affecting like few other games in its genre.
Yet when it came to sales, it was a considerable disappointment, with only a modicum of copies finding their way into people’s hands. And while this wouldn’t stop Ubisoft from producing a sequel, the company would nonetheless go on to spend more than a decade trying to get it off the ground – hardening the game’s fan base beyond all measure. This is the history of Beyond Good & Evil.
