Rayman originally featured in Beyond Good & Evil, and other development secrets

Ubisoft platforming mascot Rayman was once featured in the files of Beyond Good & Evil, as shown in the game’s just-released 20th Anniversary Edition.

Launched yesterday – after previously being made mistakenly available last year – BG&E’s Anniversary Edition includes an extensive behind the scenes archive of artwork, early gameplay videos and making-of footage. After spending a couple of hours trawling through it last night, I can confirm it’s a real treat for any BG&E fan.

Below, I’ve pulled out some of the things that stood out to me – someone who loved the game and has been waiting almost 20 years for news of its follow-up. And if that sounds like you, well, there’s plenty more, including lots of footage of cut levels, to enjoy via the actual game.

Rayman originally had a cameo

For a game about photographing odd specimens, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Rayman and BG&E creator Michel Ancel apparently snuck in an Easter egg where you could find the limbless hero himself. Alas, Rayman did not make the game’s final cut. The image above is taken from a development build of the game where Rayman was made fully playable – although this was never planned for public release.

Jade was initially Sally

Everyone knows BG&E’s protagonist as Jade, but she spent a long time in pre-production and production as Sally. Concept art and even early placeholder audio lines describe her using this former name – which was changed because it sounded “too English”. (Oh, and the IRIS Network was originally acronymed SPOON.)

The game’s heroes were originally pest control

Jade and Pey’j were initially planned to be working for an intergalactic pest control service, which necessitated them visiting various locations and ridding them of rats. Indeed, rodents would have been an enemy in the game (and their presence in the final version hints at their once much larger role).

Pey’j was a smoker

Around March 2002, Pey’j was given a cigarette that hung from his mouth. Ubisoft says his smoking habit had been something developers wanted to explore, but had to abandon to keep the game’s age rating down.

Between Good & Evil

Beyond Good & Evil was originally titled “Between Good & Evil”, even after it was first shown to journalists in the summer of 2002.

The DomZ were originally good guys, and we’d have visited their home planet

It’s long been known that BG&E had originally been planned as a game with multiple planets. Well, one of these was intended to be the homeworld of the DomZ, the game’s villains, although in earlier versions of the game’s story they would have been a more innocent race taken over by a different evil species. The DomZ also had a far less menacing look – as you can see below.

Jade originally had more companions, including a DomZ

Plans for several other companions were left on the cutting room floor, including that of a DomZ character named Toy’l that lasted until relatively far into production. Toy’l would have been encountered late on, as part of a scrapped mission set on an orbiting satellite, and would have been instrumental in Jade learning her true identity. Another cut character – though left behind much earlier – was a brother for Jade.

Jade fought with her fists until late in development

The decision to have Jade fight with her Daï-jo staff was made late in development, in February 2003. Up until then, combat was hand-to-hand.

And one small tease for Beyond Good & Evil 2…

The 20th Anniversary Edition’s archive includes just a single mention of Ubisoft’s long-awaited upcoming successor. “We also notice that Pey’j was described as a ‘hybrid clone’ back then,” a development note states, referring to a July 2002 description of Jade’s uncle, “a notion that will very much be developed in a future prequel.”

With the 20th Anniversary Edition’s release, Ubisoft has once again reconfirmed its commitment to launch Beyond Good & Evil 2 at some point. There’s no details as to when, however, and the game now holds the Guinness World Record for the project longest in development.

In January 2023, Ubisoft told Eurogamer that “Beyond Good and Evil 2’s development is under way and the team is hard at work to deliver on its ambitious promise.” But the project was a no-show yet again at Ubisoft’s latest showcase.