In a likely case of counting poultry before the day of hatching, Zavvi.com have listed Beyond Good and Evil 2 with a release date of March 22, 2014.
Spotted by OXM, Zavvi list the title as an Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows PC game and describe Beyond Good and Evil 2 as such, “Designed by Michel Ancel and his acclaimed design team at Ubisoft, this is a sequel to the beloved adventure game, Beyond Good & Evil.”
A strong start, but the description soon begins to sound more than a little dubious. “The game has not yet, however, been officially announced under the title “Beyond Good & Evil 2”” continues the Zavvi description, before revealing that “it is instead referred to simply as “Next Michel Ancel Project” after its creator, it it might possibly have a unique title to reboot the franchise.”
Clearly a Beyond Good and Evil fanatic is employed in the halls of Zavvi.
While the listing is clearly leaping the firearm by announcing that it is the release date for Beyond Good and Evil 2 I have to wonder what grain of truth, if any, is held in its appearance.
From the description it appears that the Zavvi employee has read, somewhere, that ‘Next Michel Ancel Project ‘ is coming, and it may well have a release date of early 2014. Considering Monsieur Ancel is just about done with Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends it makes sense that he’d be turning his attentions to his next project, and Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development for quite some time.
However if Zavvi did genuinely read of this mystery project then we should assume that Ancel’s Next Project is in development for a machine, or machines, that already exist. Websites aren’t in the business of listing next-gen titles just yet and, according to Ancel’s last words on the matter with Eurogamer, Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development was targeting next gen machines. The plot, she thickens…
Personally? I want Beyond Good and Evil 2 as much as the next slowly ageing gamer (though I actually want Rayman Legends just a teensy bit more, I’m a sucker for some colourful platform hopping) so even in the likely event that this Zavvi listing turns out to be a pile of the most poignant dung, it’s nice to remind Ubisoft we’re all waiting. Patiently waiting.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 might be released on March 22 2014 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows PC. It might not. Stay tuned.