Emile Morel, creative director of Beyond Good & Evil 2, has passed away

It seems like serious inconveniences keep hindering the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2, but this is one of those that surely no one expected, or hoped for. The creative director of the project, Emile Morel, has died at the early age of 40, for a cause that Ubisoft has not specified

“Rest in peace, my dear Emile Morel,” wrote Greg Hermittant, producer at Ubisoft Montpellier. “You’ve been such a great and kind partner during all these years at Ubisoft. I’m grateful to have worked with you on so many projects. Even through the most difficult times, you always remained the caring and supportive person you were with your beautiful positive mind.”

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“A cherished colleague for over a decade at Ubisoft Montpellier, we laughed and wept through good times and bad, and shipped a lot great games together,” wrote Gabrielle Shrager, the game’s former narrative director. “Emile was so very proud of Beyond Good and Evil 2, the Space Monkeys, and his teammates. He will be sorely missed.”

Morel came to Ubisoft in 2009, and according to his Linkedin profile, he worked on games like The Adventures of Tintin and the fabulous Rayman Legends. Before that, he stayed for four years in Eden Games, appearing in the credits of games like Alone in the Dark and Test Drive Unlimited 2.

In February he was promoted to creative director of the game, of which he was already part of the development. This promotion was part of the internal changes in the staff of Ubisoft Montpellier after the problems within the French company, which was recognized by its CEO, Yves Guillemot. The game has now been in development for 15 years, and the creative director’s peers have vowed to finish the job Morel was involved in for so long.

Source | IGN