Beyond Good & Evil’s remastered 20th Anniversary Edition confirmed for 2024 after accidental early release
Some Ubisoft+ subscribers were able to play “an early development version” of the game
It’s official: a new Beyond Good & Evil game is coming out. No, wait, come back: we really mean it this time. While Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still a no-show for the foreseeable, Ubisoft has confirmed that the original game will see a remaster next year for its 20th anniversary. And unlike BGE2, we know we’ll almost definitely be able to play it in the next 12 months, let alone the next decade, because some people are already playing it.
A store page for Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition - which will technically land the year after the 2003 game’s 20th anniversary this year, which only feels fitting for the infamously delay-prone series - popped up on Xbox earlier today, revealing a 4K, 60fps remaster in the works before being pulled down.
Along with uprezzing the visuals, the remaster also promised to improve the game’s controls and audio, as well as adding modern features such as autosaving, achievements and cross-platform saves.
There also appears to be new gameplay content in the works, with mention of a treasure hunt in Hillys, plus a speedrun mode. The collection will pack in some actual anniversary goodies to mark the milestone too, with some behind-the-scenes looks at its development in an “anniversary gallery”.
While any announcement of a new Beyond Good & Evil game arriving anytime soon might normally be regarded with some scepticism, the 20th Anniversary Edition took an unusual route to reassuring fans that it’s a real, playable thing by accidentally unlocking early for some subscribers to monthly game plan Ubisoft+.
Ubisoft swiftly confirmed to Eurogamer that a “technical error” had made the game playable for some Ubisoft+ subscribers, adding that the version seen in screenshots and videos posted online (before being hit with takedown notices) represented “an early development version”.
In confirming that Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition was in fact real, Ubisoft also revealed that it will release in early 2024 - just a few months after the game’s official 20th birthday earlier this month.
As for Beyond Good & Evil 2, it celebrated the 15th anniversary of its announcement (at which time it was said to have been in pre-production for a year) this year, and will mark eight years since its subsequent re-announcement next year. Maybe it’ll just skip the wait and release as its own 20th (Reveal) Anniversary Edition in a few years, if we’re lucky.