Trivia / Beyond Good & Evil 2

• Content Leak: A gameplay trailer was leaked in 2009, but wasn't followed by an official trailer. A completely different trailer was shown at E3 in 2017.
• Development Hell: Beyond Good and Evil 2 was first teased in 2008, and then confirmed to be properly back in development in October 2016 by Michel Ancel and the official Beyond Good & Evil Facebook...then further revealed by the surprise trailer shown during E3 2017. However, little progress has been made since then, and as of mid-2023, the game has still not entered production, leading many to believe it to be vaporware. By late 2022, it has broken the record for the longest development period for a video game, surpassing even the infamous Duke Nukem Forever.
• Died During Production: The game's creative director, Emile Morel, suddenly passed away to undisclosed causes in July of 2023 at age 40, only a few months after assuming the position from the previous creative director.
• Role-Ending Misdemeanor: The game's original director, Michael Ancel, abruptly stepped down from his position and retired from the game industry entirely in September 2020. Only a week after his sudden retirement, a news report was released alleging Ancel's fostered an extremely toxic work environment during development of Beyond Good and Evil 2, and Ancel was aware that he was being investigated when he announced his retirement during its production.
• Sequel Gap: Twice over, the first announcement came at least five years after the original. A bit long but still a relatively small margin give the new console generation. But then it got stuck in Development Hell with on/off again news on its progress. Eventually 2017 saw it return to the public eye which, from the original release, is 15 years in wait just to let the audience know it's still coming. It's currently unknown when the game will even come out yet.
• Troubled Production: In 2020, following Michel Ancel's retirement from game development, many members of the Beyond Good and Evil 2 development team came forward to accuse Michel Ancel of mismanaging the game and holding up progress due to him dividing his attention away from the game by also directing Wild at the same time^note Which has also reportedly been cancelled., having a penchant for frequently throwing out work and changing up game and story elements on a whim, and generally being unhelpful and even verbally abusive towards his staff. Ancel's retirement caught the team off guard, and the years afterward saw several other staff leave the project as it struggled to find a solid creative direction after Ancel's departure.
• What Could Have Been: It initially started development as a straight sequel that would focus on Jade and Pey'J in a new adventure, but the development team decided to revamp it into a prequel instead.