The long-delayed sequel Beyond Good & Evil 2 officially has a new creative director, with veteran designer Fawzi Mesmar announcing that he is taking the reins in the wake of the sudden death of Emile Morel in 2023.
“Today I’m glad to share that I joined Beyond Good & Evil 2 as Creative Director. I have been working with those peeps for years now on this ambitious game and witnessed their talent firsthand,” Mesmar wrote on Linkedin. “I am standing on the shoulders of creative giants that have supported the team before me, and I look forward to continuing to craft a game that is truly unique for players to enjoy.”
In a statement, an Ubisoft representative told IGN, “With more than 20 years as an award-winning game designer and creative director, he’s been instrumental in the successful launch of over 20 video games. Mesmar previously collaborated with the Beyond Good & Evil 2 team as VP of Editorial. In his new role, he’s focused on continuing to build upon the vision set forth by our late friend and colleague, Emile Morel.”
Mesmar has held numerous positions over the course of his lengthy career in the games industry, including the head of design at DICE between 2019 and 2021, and over the last three years has been the Vice President of Global Creative at Ubisoft. Earlier this year he received an ambassador award at the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards.
Mesmar will help lead a project that has come to be known as one of gaming’s most infamous cases of vaporware. Not much is known about it save that it’s an open world prequel to the original Beyond Good & Evil and that it is being developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, with only a handful of early demos emerging over the years. The game’s original director, Michel Ancel, departed Ubisoft in 2020, though he’s now consulting on a nascent Rayman game.
Notably, it seems as if Beyond Good & Evil 2 is starting to pick up steam. Ubisoft has reportedly moved most of the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown to the project, and the addition of Mesmar gives it direction at the top. However, Ubisoft is dealing with plenty of other problems, including rumors of a potential takeover and disappointing sales around major tentpole releases like Star Wars Outlaws.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 does not have a release date and seems unlikely to come out any time soon, but you can check out all the rest of the best video games of 2024 right here.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
