Beyond Good & Evil 2 overtakes Duke Nukem Forever to inherit the longest development period ever

Beyond Good and Evil 2 has now been in development longer than Duke Nukem Forever.

As reported by Eurogamer, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is now the game with the longest-ever development period, surpassing that of Guinness world record holder Duke Nukem Forever.

The sequel to Duke Nukem 3D finally launched in 2011 after being worked on for more than 14 years. Officially announced in 1997 by developer 3D Realms, the game was plagued by delays owing to engine changes and a plethora of other issues. Following 3D Realms' downsizing in 2009, development shifted to Borderlands studio, Gearbox Software. 

According to a Tweet by Brendan Sinclair, managing editor for GamesIndustry.biz, "Duke Nukem Forever went 5,156 days from its announcement in 1997 to its release in 2011." He added, "It has been 5,234 days since the first Beyond Good & Evil 2 trailer was released." With not even a vague launch window yet in sight, this number has the potential to get significantly higher. 

As you may or may not remember, the game was announced with a CGI trailer during an Ubidays conference all the way back in 2008. Despite the company's continued silence surrounding a release date, last year, it confirmed that work on Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still underway and is "progressing well", but admitted that it's "too early" to say when the game will come out. In August this year, former Blizzard narrative designer Sarah Arellano confirmed she's working as lead writer on the ever-elusive sequel. 

Sadly, all that time spent in development hell didn't do any favours for Duke Nukem Forever, but let's hope Beyond Good and Evil 2 fares better when it finally sees the light of day. 

In the meantime, check out some games that are coming out soon in our guide to new games 2022.