If you’ve been waiting patiently for Beyond Good & Evil 2 since its first announcement back in 2008, we have some bad news about the studio responsible for the long-delayed project’s development. Kotaku now reports that Ubisoft Montpellier has lost its managing director amid a local government investigation into labor policies that have left « an unprecedented number of developers experiencing burnout and going on sick leave. »

Ubisoft Montpellier, which also developed the first Beyond Good & Evil two decades ago, is being looked at by its local branch of the Inspection du Travail, according to « three sources familiar with the development, » cited by Kotaku. In December, that office reportedly started looking into reports that dozens of developers had taken extended leave over stress or sickness over the last year. Employees have been interviewed regarding their health and well-being by a third party, according to the report.

“The health and wellness of our teams is an ongoing priority,” an Ubisoft spokesperson told Kotaku. “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.”

News of the investigation comes as staff were informed last week of the departure of managing director Guillaume Carmona, who came to Montpellier from Ubisoft’s Paris offices in 2019. A number of development leads on the project have reportedly left or been shuffled around as well.

Don’t hold your breath

The report is another troubling sign for Beyond Good & Evil 2, which recently surpassed Duke Nukem Forever as the poster child for long-delayed public games projects trapped in development hell. After its 2008 announcement, news on the then Xbox-360-era project went almost completely silent until re-emerging as a prequel with a shocker of a trailer reveal and developer-led demo in 2017. We got another trailer in 2018 before news on the ambitious space opera once again went silent, even amid a number of other prominent delays and cancellations from Ubisoft last year.

In the years since those trailers, Beyond Good and Evil creator and director Michel Ancel left Ubisoft amid reports of an investigation into his « toxic leadership » at the company. And while Ancel denies his departure was linked to that scandal, the move left the project without what was likely its greatest champion inside the company.

Since Beyond Good & Evil 2 was announced, Ubisoft Montpellier has released 13 other titles, ranging from the memorable Rayman Legends to the forgettable Michael Jackson: The Experience. The studio’s last released title, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint, was launched in 2019 and is remembered today primarily as the home of Ubisoft’s baffling experiment with in-game NFTs.