Now crowned with the longest development time record in video game history, ahead of Duke Nukem Forever, Beyond good and evil 2 continues to be rocked by new starts at Ubisoft Montpellier, whose CEO Guillaume Carmona left just over three years into his tenure. An inexplicable departure that comes as the studio is currently under review by a third party due to an unusual number of overworked developers, according to information from Kotaku.
overwhelming fact, Beyond good and evil 2 has still not come out of the pre-production phase due to a creative vision that has still not found its formula, even two and a half years after the departure of the highly controversial Michel Ancel. “The health and well-being of our teams is a constant priority. Given the length of Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development cycle, the Montpellier development team is subject to third-party wellness assessments as a preventative measure and to assess the potential need for additional supportUbisoft said in an email in response to the Kotaku reporter.
Men change, the project remains
It must be said that in 2022 Ubisoft Montpellier would have been subject to an unusual number of extended days off due to stress or sick leave, a phenomenon that also affects team leaders. Some have also returned to work, while others preferred to leave the studio. A situation apparently scrutinized by the Labor Inspectorate who visited last December and commissioned a third party to question Montpellier workers and then provide a full report on the health and well-being of the teams. The Labor Inspectorate declined to comment due to confidentiality.
On the sidelines of Guillaume Carmona’s departure, Kotaku reveals that the development team of Beyond good and evil 2 has recently even been shaken in the highest direction. His LinkedIn account shows nothing, but the creative director Jean-Marc Geffroy, in office since March 2017, would no longer be part of the project and would have been replaced by Emile Morel, formerly assistant director and in position at Ubisoft since 2009 During this time, Charles Gaudron (former of Watch Dogs and responsible for the design of the systems of Beyond good and evil 2) was reported to have taken on the director’s position to replace Benjamin Durmaz, who left last January to join the Build A Rocket Boy studio. Finally, for the road, some are betting on a replacement for executive producer Guillaume Brunier.
