The game was originally announced at Ubidays 2008, with almost a decade of silence before being re-revealed at Ubisoft's E3 2017 conference, although no release window or target platforms have been mentioned.

[3] In 2022, Beyond Good and Evil 2 broke the record held by Duke Nukem Forever (2011) for the longest development period of a AAA video game, at more than 15 years.

[10][11] The original Beyond Good & Evil, released in 2003, was critically praised and gained a cult following, but was considered a commercial failure.

[13] Ancel said in a May 2008 interview with the French magazine Jeuxvideo.fr [fr] that a sequel to Beyond Good & Evil had been in pre-production for a year, but was yet to be approved by Ubisoft.

The trailer used Beyond Good & Evil music, and showed characters that appeared to be Jade and Pey'j from the original game.

Ubisoft stated that the trailer had all been recorded within the game engine, showcasing high-resolution graphics representative of seventh generation consoles capabilities.

[15][16] A second, leaked trailer started circulating on the internet around May 2009, showing a character that appeared to be Jade running through a crowded street.

[31] In September 2016, Ancel posted concept art on his Instagram account showing what appeared to be a younger Pey'j, hinting that Beyond Good and Evil 2 may be a prequel.

[35] Additionally, the "Space Monkey Program" was announced in collaboration with HitRecord, allowing fans to “create art and music that will be integrated directly in the game”.

To power this, Ubisoft Montpellier started building a solar system simulation tool about three years prior to the E3 2017 reveal to be used in the game's own engine called Voyager.

[44] In July 2021, Ubisoft stated in a financial report that development was "progressing well", but did not answer a question regarding its release date.

With over 20 years of experience, Mesmar aims to push the project forward, though the game remains delayed with no release date yet.