Ubisoft has added a trigger warning to its recently released Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition.
A screenshot from Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (2024), Ubisoft
As reported by YouTuber Vara Dark, the newly released Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition, which was released on June 25th features a trigger warning.
The trigger warning states, “Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition brings the original experience to today’s platforms. The story and gameplay remain as they were when the game launched in 2003. As such, some characters and cultural references contain stereotypes. Ubisoft acknowledges the negative impact of their representation.
The company then added, “Much like in the game itself, we keep on learning about our world, our games, and the stories and representations within them.”
I love buying games and seeing TRIGGER WARNINGS saying there’s “harmful content” as soon as I open them! pic.twitter.com/Cd7zqL0XyR
— Vara Dark (@Vara_Dark) July 12, 2024
Interestingly, an analysis conducted by Victoria M.E. Bridgland, Payton J. Jones, and Benjamin W. Bellet and published in August 2023 “found that warnings had no effect on affective responses to negative material or on educational outcomes. However, warnings reliably increased anticipatory affect.”
The researchers added, “Findings on avoidance were mixed, suggesting either that warnings have no effect on engagement with material or that they increased engagement with negative material under specific circumstances.”
A screenshot from Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (2024), Ubisoft
Beyond Good & Evil was developed and published by Ubisoft back in 2003 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC. The story follows Jade, a photojournalist and martial artist, as she uncovers a government conspiracy involving the Alpha Sections, an organization responsible for protecting the planet from alien invasions. With the help of her best friend Uncle Pey’j, she teams up with the IRIS Network, a resistance movement, to expose the truth.”
The game was developed by Michel Ancel, the creator of Rayman, alongside a team of 30 employees. In an interview with Game Informer conducted in 2011 Ancel detailed that current Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot was fully supportive of the project.
He explained, “For this project, Yves Guillemot, the CEO, came to Montpellier and was really behind the project. Unfortunately, it was not so successful, but Yves was really behind us for the whole development, which was incredible because he spent time regularly with us on the project.”
A screenshot from Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (2024), Ubisoft
Guillemot, for his part, stated, “Peter Jackson loved it and Michel really showed what he could do to create innovative games.”
He added, “It’s a shame that you can do such an innovative game and that people feel that because there is a pig and it’s not adapted totally to the audience, you don’t sell the volume you expected.”
A screenshot from Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition (2024), Ubisoft
What do you make of Ubisoft adding this trigger warning to Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition?
