The gaming community has cried out for a sequel to the sleeper hit Beyond Good and Evil ever since its release way back in 2003. Finally, that muted yet persistent plea is going to pay off, because Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot has announced that a follow-up is indeed on its way. Judging from what he has said, however, Beyond Good & Evil 2 may not be the game everyone has been hoping for.
Speaking at the Ubidays 2008 media event in Paris, Guillemot had this to say:
"We saw with Beyond Good & Evil that so many customers were extremely happy with the game. We had a different audience at that time. We had more core gamers than casual gamers than we have today."
"We think the game was probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at that time. We’re going to make [Beyond Good & Evil 2] more accessible and make sure that it’s really done for the new generation that’s come into video games."
It appears that Ubisoft has thought long and hard about Beyond Good and Evil’s lack of sales the first time around, and are hoping to avoid succumbing to the same fate twice. By appealing to the rapidly growing "casual" market, however, will the company be alienating the very audience that has wished for this sequel since day one? Will this sequel come across as "dumbed down" to the seasoned gamer, or will it manage to appeal to both groups?
[via shacknews]
