Beyond Good & Evil 2 In Doubt [UPDATE] News

Rife rumour and speculation across the internet is suggesting that Michel Ancel, Ubisoft Montpellier's Creative Director, has left the studio amid controversy surrounding the future of Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil 2 project.

These reports come from French site Woot Gaming (translation here), which alleges that Ancel has left the studio alongside a second, unnamed developer due to internal problems with Beyond Good & Evil 2. Development is said to be at a well advanced stage on the project, although the report states that there are suggestions of the game's cancellation.

Given that we've seen nothing on Beyond Good & Evil 2 since leaked footage of the game that surfaced a year ago, we're inclined to think that there might be something to this, especially seeing as previous rumours have already indicated that the game's development has been put on hold.

However, Michel Ancel's LinkedIn profile still has him placed at the Ubisoft Montpellier studio, despite suggestions from the article that he's left to form a new studio focussing on traiditional 2D games.

We'll keep you updated as soon as we know more. However, although the original report points to an announcement of the project's status at E3, it seems unlikely that Ubisoft would be inclined to officially reveal anything about a game that's run into trouble, particularly if that game is Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Update: A Ubisoft spokesperson has now dismissed these rumours to Eurogamer. It seems Michel Ancel is still at Ubisoft Montpellier and Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development.