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Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition is officially set to launch in early 2024. Ubisoft made the announcement after accidentally leaking the whole game itself, but the company says you shouldn't let the questionable state of that leaked build color your expectations for the final product.
"An early development version of Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition was recently released to some Ubisoft Plus subscribers by mistake," the company said in a tweet. "We apologize for any confusion and want to assure our community that this version is not indicative of the final game. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Beyond Good & Evil, our commitment to delivering a game that meets the high expectations of our fans is unwavering."
Well, looks like the cat’s out of the bag, dagnammit. Happy 20th anniversary to Beyond Good & Evil! While we cannot wait to show you more about this special edition, more news to come in early 2024! pic.twitter.com/cNxHGTnmdUNovember 29, 2023
Ubisoft Plus is the publisher's Xbox Game Pass-style subscription service and, indeed, a seemingly complete version of this 20th Anniversary Edition was briefly made available to subscribers on PC. Footage soon hit the internet, and while Ubisoft has been quick to scrub those videos from the web, there are some extremely unflattering comparison shots out there, making it look like the new version of the game is missing some visual major effects that were present in the original.
Around the time of this Ubisoft Plus leak, an Xbox Store page for the 20th Anniversary Edition also went live, promising "up to 4K, 60 fps with improved graphics, controls, and audio, along with brand-new autosave and cross-save features," as well as "exclusive new rewards as you explore the planet and discover more about Jade’s past in a new treasure hunt throughout Hillys." The screenshots provided on that store page showed far more impressive visuals than those in the leaked Ubisoft Plus build.
Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition listed on Xbox Store: https://t.co/xDHeD3JJWCSwoop into the marvelous world of Hillys as action-reporter Jade to investigate the mysterious DomZ alien attacks alongside colorful characters, like her adoptive uncle Pey’j or the… pic.twitter.com/zcuRkZbEFxNovember 29, 2023
"We're excited to announce that the official launch is set for early 2024, and we're dedicated to making it an experience that truly honors the legacy of the original," Ubisoft said in its official announcement. "Thank you for your understanding and continued support." A 2024 release would, of course, see this 20th Anniversary Edition launch just in time for Beyond Good & Evil's 21st anniversary (albeit in November, with this remaster coming before that).
This will be Beyond Good & Evil's second remaster following the HD edition released for Xbox 360 and PS3 back in 2011. The 360 version is still playable on modern Xbox consoles. In theory, there's a sequel in development now, but as of 2022 Beyond Good & Evil 2 had overtaken Duke Nukem Forever as the most delayed game of all time, and there's no sign of it launching any time soon.
A few more of the best PS2 games of all time deserve remastering.
