Ubisoft’s platformer mascot Rayman was once part of the Beyond Good & Evil files, as shown in the just-released 20th Anniversary Edition.
Launched yesterday – after being accidentally made available last year – the BG&E Anniversary Edition features an extensive archive of artwork, early gameplay videos and production footage. After spending a few hours trawling last night, I can confirm that this is a real treat for any BG&E fan.
Below I’ve pulled some of the things that caught my eye – someone who loved the game and waited nearly 20 years for news of a sequel. And if that sounds like you, well, there’s a lot more, including plenty of level-by-level footage to enjoy in the actual game.
Rayman originally had a cameo
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a game about shooting oddballs, Rayman and BG&E creator Michel Ancel apparently slipped in an easter egg where you could find the limbless hero himself. Unfortunately, Rayman didn’t make it through the game’s final cut. The image above is taken from a development build of the game where Rayman was fully playable – although it was never planned for public release.
Jade was originally Sally
Everyone knows the BG&E main character as Jade, but she spent a long time in pre-production and production as Sally. Concept art and even early voiceover lines describe her using this earlier name – which was changed because it sounded “too English”. (Oh, and the IRIS network was originally shortened to SPOON.)
The heroes of the game were originally pest exterminators
Jade and Pey’j were originally supposed to work for an intergalactic pest control service, which required them to visit various locations and rid them of rats. Rodents would indeed be the enemy in the game (and their presence in the final version hints at their once much larger role).
Pey’j was a smoker
Around March 2002, Pey’j was given a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Ubisoft says that his smoking was something the developers wanted to explore but had to give up in order to lower the game’s age rating.
Between good and evil
Beyond Good & Evil was originally titled “Between Good and Evil” even after it was first shown to journalists in the summer of 2002.
DomZ were originally the good guys and we would visit their home planet
It has long been known that BG&E was originally planned as a multi-planet game. Well, one of them was supposed to be the home world of the DomZ, the game’s villains, although in earlier versions of the game’s story, they would have been a more innocent race that had been taken over by another evil species. DomZ also had a much less menacing look to it – as you can see below.
Jade originally had multiple companions, including DomZ
Plans for several other companions were left on the cutting room floor, including a DomZ plan for a character named Toy’l that lasted until relatively long into production. Toy’l would meet late, as part of an aborted mission to an orbital satellite, and she would be instrumental in helping Jade learn her true identity. Another cut character – albeit one forgotten much earlier – was a brother for Jade.
Jade fought with her fists until late development
The decision to have Jade fight with his Daï-jo staff was made late in development, in February 2003. Until then, they were fighting each other.
And one little trailer for Beyond Good & Evil 2…
The 20th Anniversary Edition archive contains only one mention of Ubisoft’s long-awaited upcoming successor. “We also noticed that Pey’j was then described as a ‘hybrid clone,'” the development note says, referring to the July 2002 description of Jade’s uncle, “a concept that will be greatly developed in a future prequel.”
With the release of the 20th Anniversary Edition, Ubisoft has reaffirmed its commitment to launching Beyond Good & Evil 2 at some point. However, there are no details on when, and the game now holds the Guinness World Record for the project that has been in development for the longest time.
In January 2023, Ubisoft told Eurogamer that “development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 is ongoing and the team is working hard to deliver on its ambitious promise.” But the project was once again a no-show at Ubisoft’s latest showcase.