Beyond Good & Evil’s new anniversary edition content demands BG&E2 is made

When will Beyond Good & Evil 2 be released? More than two decades on from the launch of Ubisoft’s original game, we still don’t know – but Beyond Good & Evil’s 20th Anniversary Edition now demands that its succesor does arrive, and sooner rather than later.

As well as technical upgrades and a deep, fascinating behind-the-scenes developer archive, Ubisoft’s new version of Beyond Good & Evil includes fresh story and new cutscenes which directly tie into the publisher’s long-held plans for the game’s successor.

Characters from Beyond Good & Evil 2 (which is set to be a prequel) appear in video diaries showing them interacting with Jade as a young girl. There’s also a brand-new cutscene featuring a specific character – and a big reveal regarding their relationship to Jade.

Progress far enough through Beyond Good & Evil’s 20th Anniversary Edition and Jade will acquire objects passed down to her from characters seen in some of the trailers for Beyond Good & Evil 2 thus far. (You can also acquire some alternate cosmetic options for characters, including the outfit Uncle Pey’j is seen wearing in a previous BG&E2 trailer.)

As a reminder, BG&E2 is set a generation before the original game, with Pey’j and a fresh group of human and animal hybrids living as space pirates aboard the starship Gada.

Crew members such as Knox the Monkey are among those who have left items for Jade, which she can then learn more about via newly-added M-disc collectables. These are narrated by Dakini, the Gada’s captain. Most offer brief looks at how each character interacted with the young Jade, though there’s confirmation here that chief engineer Callum is not Jade’s father (as some fans had speculated).

That said, a further full cutscene can be unlocked featuring Dakini which does offer a big reveal – that she is Jade’s mother. For players, this is a sizable moment, though it is revealed through a scene where Jade sees a hologram of her absent parent – and it is not played as a surprise to her. The implication appears to be that Dakini and the rest of the Gada crew are simply elsewhere, and Jade has been left with her uncle for her own safety.

So, when will we see these plot threads be picked up on? In January 2023, Ubisoft told Eurogamer that “Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development is under way and the team is hard at work to deliver on its ambitious promise.” Just this month, Ubisoft reconfirmed this statement to Eurogamer, and said the project remained on its schedule.

Last week, Christian Donlan wrote how he viewed Beyond Good & Evil as something of its own sequel, as it remained rewarding to play multiple times.