Beyond Good & Evil 2 has a surprise guest developer: you

Ubisoft kicked off its E3 2018 press conference with more footage and a deeper dive into its biggest surprise of E3 last year: Beyond Good & Evil 2. First up, a new cinematic trailer.

Did you feel that sudden vacuum in the air? That's every Beyond Good & Evil fan across the globe gasping at the reveal of BG&E protagonist Jade as this game's villain. What a twist!

Of course, there are way more fun little details to be glimpsed here, and Ubisoft has helpfully provided a breakdown:

After the trailer, two members of the Beyond Good & Evil 2 team stepped on-stage to show off some gameplay. As was previously demonstrated, the game will feature on-foot and in-air combat, seamlessly transitioning between the two as you explore exotic locales across the solar system. But what we didn't know was that the development team was adding Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the roster!

Okay, you think I'm joking, but I'm really only just barely stretching the truth. Ubisoft has teamed up with Levitt thanks to his online collaborative production company, HitRecord, to create art, music, and stories for the world of Beyond Good & Evil 2.

This means that anyone who is part of the HitRecord program can draft and create assets for Beyond Good & Evil 2, and the developers can implement them as they see fit. That billboard you just flew past? That might have been created by a BG&E fan halfway across the world. That space-scooter you're riding around? That might have been built by a 3D model artist. And these creators will be compensated for their contributions - no freebies given out here.

With the incredible size of Beyond Good & Evil 2, many were wondering just how Ubisoft was going to create everything it needed to in order to make a whole solar system's worth of content feel lush and alive. Now, it seems we have our answer: you're going to make it. Which, honestly, makes a lot of sense. Who better to help build this game than the people who've been screaming with passion for its return?

Be sure to check out the E3 2018 schedule to see when the other major players will announce their news, and keep an eye on our list of E3 2018 games to see all the titles coming your way.

Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.