” Émile Morel, creative director of Beyond Good & Evil 2, passed away this week at the terribly young age of 40. For over ten years at Ubisoft Montpellier, we’ve laughed and cried in good times and bad, and we’ve delivered many great games together. Émile was so proud of Beyond Good & Evil 2, the Space Monkeys and their companions. We will miss him terribly “, published screenwriter Gabrielle Shrager, now working at Lightspeed LA.
” Rest in peace my dear Émile Morel. You have been such a good partner during all these years at Ubisoft, I am happy to have worked with you on so many projects. Even in the most difficult times, you always remained the caring and supportive person that you were with your beautiful positive spirit. But the most important are the wonderful times we have had. Rayman Legends is probably my best memory. I will miss our impersonations and private jokes. Beyond Good & Evil will miss you. Rest assured that we will continue your work. Have a safe trip, space pirate “, published Greg Hermittant, producer on Beyond Good & Evil 2 between June 2017 and January 2022.
A graduate of the Sorbonne and Supinfogame, Émile Morel joined the video game world at Eden Games in July 2004 during the pre-production of Alone in the Dark. In 2008, he spent a few months on Test Drive Unlimited 2 but joined Ubisoft Montpellier in June 2009. In his new house, he began by working on the adaptation of the film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, before joining Michel Ancel’s team to work on Rayman Legends as lead designer. The game will be released in August 2013 to general acclaim and will reach 4.5 million copies sold in early 2019, becoming the franchise’s best-selling installment.
” In 2012, after working on the game for several months, we finally revealed the first live images during the Ubisoft conference which takes place every year at E3. I was lucky enough to be among the team members who played the game live on stage at that time. It was incredible to feel the whole room reacting to the images that were unveiled, the game was very well received and it is definitely a moment that I will never forget he said in an interview 10 years ago.
The last time that the name of Émile Morel was mentioned in the video game press, it was at the beginning of the year during a Kotaku investigation taking stock of the chaotic development of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Following yet another reshuffling of the team, Émile Morel was promoted to creative director of the project instead of Jean-Marc Geffroy, who had held the position since March 2017. Émile Morel was previously assistant director and was one of the faces that could be seen sometimes during the Space Monkeys presentations. Presentations which were intended to keep players regularly informed of the progress of the project, but which ceased in 2020 with the announcement of the departure of Michel Ancel.
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