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Ubisoft Partners With Joseph Gordon-Levitt To Bring User-Created Content To Beyond Good & Evil 2
As we learned at E3 last year, Ubisoft has grand ambitions for Beyond Good & Evil 2 that stretch far beyond the template created by the original cult hit. Today we learned the French publisher wants to enlist your help to bring its world to life using the HitRecord creative collaboration platform started by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, Inception).
"We've made all kinds of things – short films, books, music, a TV show that one an Emmy – but this is the first time that we're ever going to make assets that can go into a video game, which is really, really cool," Gordon-Levitt says.
Many times, publishers invite creators to work on their games after they have already released. This time, they are asking for your help while they are still in the midst of development.
"Forever in the game industry, there has been a wall between players and developers. Today with this collaboration, we are breaking that wall," said Beyond Good & Evil 2 senior producer Guillaume Brunier. "People can contribute to the game they love right now, and anyone can come."
The process starts with Ubisoft issuing a creative challenge, for instance, a call for more songs to put on the Space Pirate Radio station. Rather than take straight song submissions, the HitRecord team is looking for a seed they can build upon, like a good bass line. Once they put the seed into place, they ask the community to build around it with lyrics and other instruments. Once they feel the song has all the elements in place, they record a demo and send it to Ubisoft for evaluation. They may greenlight it or reject it, but if a project you worked on gets accepted and integrated into the game you will receive some sort of monetary reimbursement for your creative contribution.
Ubisoft plans to use HitRecord in a variety of ways, from the aforementioned music submissions to street art seen in Beyond Good & Evil 2's bustling Ganesha City.
"I think that video games are the future – in many ways, much more so than movies – so I'm really excited to be working on art that's going into a game," Gordon-Levitt says.
To learn more about how you can participate, head to the HitRecord site.
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