Beyond Good & Evil 2 Loses Studio Head, Still Unable to Pin Creative Vision After 15 Years

Six years after the re-reveal of Beyond Good & Evil 2 and more than 15 years into its development, developer Ubisoft Montpellier has lost studio head and managing director Guillaume Carmona, according to Kotaku. Per three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Kotaku reports that staff received notice that the managing director was no longer with the company last week. It’s a major change to leadership that coincides with a labor investigation into the studio held by the local government in France.

We know so little about the behind-the-scenes goings on at Ubisoft Montpellier, especially when it comes to the mysterious Beyond Good & Evil 2. Although its re-reveal in 2017 did tease a bright future for the sci-fi series, we’ve heard a crushingly small amount about it since. In fact, Guillaume Carmona, who has been with Ubisoft for almost 20 years, had apparently not been present at the studio since the beginning of 2023.

Kotaku reached out to Ubisoft for comment, to which it replied: “The health and wellness of our teams is an ongoing priority. Given the length of the development cycle with Beyond Good & Evil 2, the Montpellier development team is undergoing well-being assessments through a third-party for preventative measures and to evaluate where additional support may be needed.” Carmona will reportedly not be returning to Ubisoft. The reason for his departure is being kept under wraps for now.

The Beyond Good & Evil 2 team has not just lost its studio head though. Creative director Jean-Marc Geffroy recently left and has reportedly been replaced by associate director Emile Morel. Game director Benjamin Dumaz was also replaced by Charles Gaudron. Ubisoft Montpellier executive producer Guillaume Brunier is still attached, but some believe he could be replaced as well.

Ubisoft has attempted to maintain its public presence despite investigations into workplace culture taking place behind closed doors. The Kotaku report states that, last year, Montpellier saw many of its developers, including some project leads, taking extended leave for stress and sickness. While some eventually returned to work on Beyond Good & Evil 2, others left permanently. The French labor inspection office intervened in December, and a third-party entity has reportedly been brought in to interview members of the team.

Among the rubble is Beyond Good & Evil 2, a game that has clearly struggled to get off the ground since its 2008 announcement (despite a Netflix movie apparently still being in development). Kotaku says the project still hasn’t nailed down a creative vision 15 years later. Let’s see what the next 15 years have in store.