Beyond Good and Evil 2 trailer debuts at E3

Ubisoft delivered an unexpected surprise during its E3 press event today with the reveal of a proper, full-on cinematic teaser for Beyond Good & Evil 2

Creator Michel Ancel, who seemed close to tears at times, made a point of thanking everyone involved for their patience over the game's 15-year—and, to be clear, still incomplete—development, in particular Ubisoft CE Yves Guillemot. He also threw a shout-out to the fans of Beyond Good & Evil, "for sticking with us for so long." 

As for the BG&E2 itself, it take place before the birth of Jade, the lead character in the original game, "in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural human society in a distant solar system," narrative director Gabrielle Schrager explained. "It is a time when corporations create hybrids in their labs, and enslave them to colonize the stars in order to compete for power and cosmic resources. With our crew of crazy and unforgettable characters, we fight in the name of freedom and the right to determine our own fates among the stars." 

The trailer itself is pretty great, although we can't ignore that it's strictly a cinematic—no gameplay is shown. There is also, despite all the time that's already passed, no hint of a launch date, although hopefully Ubi's willingness to start showing it off means it's getting close. Ancel spent a few minutes breaking down the trailer in greater detail in another video that you can check out below.

He also invited fans to help shape the game by joining the "Space Monkey Program," which is a bit tricky to do at the moment thanks to the sudden rush toward the BG&E website. Fortunately, we have Twitter told hold us over.        

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Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.