There is a new Guinness record holder for game longest in development, Beyond Good and Evil 2.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 New Guinness Record Holder
GamesIndustry.biz’s Brendan Sinclair’s personal Twitter account revealed that the new Guinness record holder is now Beyond Good and Evil 2 for a game with the longest development. Previously, it was the popular Duke Nukem Forever video game that held that title that was finally released in 2011.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 vs. Duke Nukem Forever
According to Sinclair, Duke Nukem Forever had 5,156 days from its announcement in 1997 to its release in 2011. Today, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is now 5,237 days since the first trailer was released. It is that long now and it is still going.
Similarities
What is fascinating is that both projects have been put on hold during their times in development. The development teams and console hardware have shifted.
The Long Development Trail
Way back in 2008, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was revealed with a new CGI trailer. Senior Creator Michel Ancel has already worked on the project for a year. Years go by and no word from the developers but Ubisoft always said that the game is still being worked on.
Ubisoft finally revealed something in 2016 which was announced in E3 that year with development updates. Again, the updates stopped and it went silent for a few years.
In 2020, Ancel left Ubisoft all of a sudden. The company assured that development is still continuing but did not confirm when the next update from the developers.
Last August this year, Narrative Designer Sarah Arellano has joined the team. And that’s it for updates. No word again from Ubisoft. Here we are with Beyond Good and Evil 2 getting a new world record. Yay?