Although not quite as detailed, you might remember a similar looking squaline individual in the original Beyond Good and Evil, called Rufus. He’s a hovercraft racer. Because of course he is.
This toothy character doesn’t have quite the same attire this time around, but he did come complete with the following caption: “Ready for the fight ” independence #ubisoft day.” The timing of the posting would suggest it’s referencing a meeting which could have seen French media giant Vivendi attempt to take over the Ubisoft board.
Since that didn’t happen, perhaps Rufus did help in the end.
This is actually the second artwork reveal that Ancel has made in just a few days. He recently shared an image of a goggled engineer working on a piece of equipment as a piglet sits on his shoulders. The image is captioned “Somewhere in System 4 … Thanks #Ubisoft for making this possible!”
The aesthetic and color scheme line up well with the art direction from the original 2003 game, and the piglet could be related to the character “Pey’j.” Pey’j was featured in a CG trailer released for the sequel more than eight years ago and was a prominent character in the first game.
Though the game’s development has been drawn out considerably, Ubisoft and Ancel are adamant that it will eventually see the light of day. In 2012, before the release of the Xbox One or PlayStation 4, Ancel said that his team will “focus on the game,” then “see what can run it.”
At this June’s E3, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reiterated that the game was still in development, but that the publisher is unsure of a time frame for release due to Michel Ancel’s other projects.
Those other projects include games like Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends, as well as the ambitious open-world nature game Wild. Unlike the majority of Ancel’s work, it’s in development not at Ubisoft, but at his own company, Wild Sheep Studio.
Ancel has butted heads with his employer in the past regarding game delays. Rayman Legends, originally scheduled as a Wii U exclusive, was delayed for several months after Ubisoft opted to port it to numerous other consoles. Ancel posed next to a picture of Rayman crying shortly after the delay was announced.
Ubisoft continues to fend off a “hostile takeover” by media giant Vivendi, and recently bought back shares from bank Bpifrance in an effort to keep its independence. Guillemot is adamant that Ubisoft can only produce creatively inspired titles, particularly ones that hold risk, if it remains independent.
