What actually became of…? The current status of Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Co.

What about a release of Beyond Good & Evil 2, Skull & Bones and Dead Island 2? We clarify the current status of almost forgotten great games.

“Oh right, that’s still around” is often the first reaction at the coffee machine when game names like Beyond Good & Evil 2, Skull & Bones or Dead Island 2 come up. Sure, big games often take many years to develop. But there are also some candidates out there that we wonder from time to time if they will ever be released.

Repeatedly postponed release dates, years of radio silence, complete reorientations and rumours of trouble behind the scenes. It’s hard to keep track of some games. That’s why we’re summarising the current status and development history of the biggest almost forgotten games. What actually became of…?

Beyond Good & Evil 2

(Genre: Open-world adventure – Developer: Ubisoft – Original Announcement: 2017 – In Development Since: 2007)

What’s it about?

Beyond Good & Evil is actually a small but mighty action secret from the distant year 2003 – which unfortunately remained commercially unsuccessful. In the planned sequel, the unique universe is to be shifted into a huge and complex open world – still with space pirates and pig mutants. Fans were promised a shared-world MMO experience and a dynamic world that we help shape with our decisions. But so far it’s little more than a nice dream.

What is the current status?

• The first speculations about Beyond Good & Evil 2 erupted back in 2007 and leaks were not exactly scarce either.

• But the official announcement didn’t come until ten years later at E3 2017.

• In 2019, Ubisoft announced a change in direction for the game.

• Since then, there was little real news for a long time, until 2021 when Ubisoft sent a tweet in the shape of a spaceship with the hashtag BGE2 as a sign of life.

A short time later, however, industry insider Tom Henderson spoke out and predicted: “The game is on the brink of extinction. From the very beginning, they had not been able to agree on a creative vision, which was exacerbated by the departure of game director Michel Ancel in 2020.

• According to Henderson’s anonymous source, Beyond Good & Evil 2 could soon be cancelled. Since then, fans have been waiting for an official statement from Ubisoft.

• Henderson also recently told of a supposedly planned Ubisoft event where there could well be an official announcement on Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Skull & Bones

(Genre: MMO – Developer: Ubisoft – Original announcement: 2017 – In development since: 2013)

What is it about?

Skull & Bones is supposed to make pirate dreams come true: To make the world’s oceans unsafe on your own ship and to compete against other pirates in great sea battles. In the meantime, Skull & Bones is supposed to focus strongly on its MMO and live service aspect and offer a mixture of Sea of Thieves and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. But the game is pushing its release date like a bow wave.

What is the current status?

• Skull & Bones was also first revealed at E3 2017.
• The planned 2018 release, however, was postponed to 2019 or 2020.
• At E3 2018 there was new gameplay to see and we were even able to play the pirate MMO.
• 2019 the announcement of a series on the game followed.

• Suddenly, in the summer of 2020, the turning point: there was talk of a reboot and a stronger focus on live service and a persistent MMO world.
• In early 2022, a Ubisoft annual report again indicated that a release between April 2022 and March 2023 was planned.
• An official release announcement could be coming soon at a big Ubisoft event, according to a leak from Henderson.

Skull & Bones: This is what an insider says about the almost forgotten pirate game

Dead Island 2

(Genre: Action – Developer: Yager Developement / Sumo Digital / Dambuster Studios – Original Announcement: 2014 – In Development Since: 2012)

What is it about?

Dead Island 2 is to be the sequel to the popular zombie classic. In an open world in California, following the events of the first part, you face off against the ever-increasing zombie armies, either in co-op or multiplayer. A skill system and different classes were also in the plan – but Dead Island 2 has an eventful history behind it.

What is the current status?

• When it was first announced, all was still well: at E3 2014, the legendary render trailer of Dead Island 2 was shown for the first time.
• At gamescom 2014 we were already able to play the action game.
• In April 2014, the release was postponed to 2016. The team was not satisfied with the current quality of the game and wanted to take more time.
• A year later in the summer of 2015, Yager was surprisingly fired as developer.
• Yager filed for bankruptcy a short time later.
• In March 2016, it was finally announced that Sumo Digital was to take over as developer.
• As a result, Dead Island 2’s Steam page disappeared. Publisher Deep Silver, however, denied rumours of the game being discontinued.
• Several reassurances followed that Dead Island 2 was still in development – only new images or info were a long time coming.
• Shortly after Deep Silver reconfirmed in summer 2019 that development was moving forward, Sumo Digital was stripped of the project. Dambuster Studios took over.
• This was followed by further irregular updates from the publisher that Dead Island 2 was not dead. Since then, however, there have been no indications of a release.

Which forgotten games would you like to know more about? Do you still believe in a release of Beyond Good & Evil 2, Skull & Bones and Dead Island 2? Tell us in the comments!