Ubisoft reportedly wasted 3 years turning Beyond Good & Evil 2 into a live-service Fortnite killer
Ubisoft reportedly spent three years developing Beyond Good & Evil 2 as a live-service game intended to compete with Fortnite, before changing direction. The project is now said to be focused on a single-player experience, a significant shift for a game that has been in development for many years.
The report says the earlier plan involved multiplayer and live-service features, but Ubisoft has since moved away from that approach while retaining co-op. The article frames the period as wasted development time, though it does not provide a budget or explain how much of the work can be reused.
In short
- Beyond Good & Evil 2 reportedly spent three years as a live-service project.
- Ubisoft has shifted the game towards single-player.
- Co-op is still expected to be included.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A live-service direction could have given Beyond Good & Evil 2 a lasting community, regular updates and cooperative play, while helping Ubisoft reach players drawn to games such as Fortnite. Exploring that model may have been a reasonable attempt to make a long-running, ambitious project commercially sustainable, and some of the work could still inform the current game.
The case against
Spending three years pursuing a format that was later abandoned may have delayed the single-player experience many fans expect from the series and consumed resources without producing a clear path to release. A Fortnite competitor would also have faced a crowded market, so the shift raises reasonable questions about whether the original plan matched the game’s strengths and audience.