I sometimes wonder, with so much time passed since Episode Two, whether people would actually care any more about Half-Life 3. It’s a faintly ridiculous notion – of course they would, it’s Half-Life – but people move on, more games arrive, and old favorites, no matter how wonderful, drift into history. Beyond Good and Evil is the epitome of a classic. A mainstay of ‘best games ever’ lists, it marks a different era for Ubisoft, before Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, and Rainbow Six Siege. The game itself still holds up, but the new Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is struggling on Steam to draw the expected fervor.
The Beyond Good and Evil 2 release date is still on its way – Ubisoft has repeatedly confirmed that the puzzle and story game sequel remains in development, despite the scant information revealed so far. In the meantime, however, the Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition arrives with updated visuals, new achievements, and 40K and 60fps support. It’s still the same, beloved game from 2003 but, two days since launch, its Steam users reviews and player count are struggling, owing largely to one key issue.
At its peak, Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition attracted 589 concurrent players. In the last 24 hours, the highest number of simultaneous users has been 493. Reviews wise, it’s just sneaked into the ‘mostly positive’ bracket on Valve’s platform. 70% of player reviews so far are favorable – if this were even slightly less, at 69%, the game’s rating would be ‘mixed.’
It plays well. It looks great. The problem, seemingly, is Ubisoft Connect. In order to play Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, you need to link your Steam account to Ubisoft’s bespoke, third-party platform. Almost every negative player review cites Ubisoft Connect as a source of frustration.
“Ubisoft launcher is absolutely unplayable,” one player writes. “Whatever I do, I get, ‘There was a problem authenticating the ownership of this product.’” “One of the best games ever made, unfortunately published by Ubisoft,” another player says. “Ubisoft account needed. I have played less than 30 minutes and the game has crashed twice.”
As of this writing, Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition has 159 concurrent players. The original version of the game, which arrived on Steam all the way back in 2008, is no longer available for purchase there.
If you want more cult classics like Beyond Good and Evil, check out the best old games you can still run today. Alternatively, go right for the good stuff with our guide to the best PC games ever made.
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