HUMANKIND II,

During Gamescom 2026, Amplitude Studios and BETC Paris unveiled a new film to mark the launch of HUMANKIND II, the second instalment of the strategy game that invites players to build their own history of humankind.

To announce this new beginning, BETC Paris chose to return to the very start.

HUMANKIND IS ABOUT TO BEGIN AGAIN.
In 95 seconds, the film stages nine births, from the Neolithic era to the near future. A journey across several millennia, experienced from one single point of view: that of the child who has just been born.

The viewer never watches history from the outside. The camera literally takes the place of the newborn. With each sequence, it opens its eyes onto a whole new world, a new civilisation and a new era.

A birth in the prehistoric world. Ancient Egypt. The Maya civilisation. A Viking longship caught in a storm. Feudal China. London ravaged by the Black Death. A pioneers' wagon during the conquest of the American West. France during the Second World War. And finally, a last birth, aboard a spacecraft orbiting the Earth.

Centuries pass, civilisations and technologies evolve, yet the same event begins again.
Each time, a human being arrives in a world they did not choose.

Throughout, the film plays on two sensations: the universal beauty of a birth, and the uncertainty of the world into which that life begins. The parents' joy sits alongside the storm, disease, war or the dangers unique to each era.

This idea speaks directly to HUMANKIND II. Following a first instalment released in 2021, Amplitude Studios has profoundly reimagined the game to offer new gameplay possibilities and a more immersive experience. Rather than simply announcing a sequel, the film captures its spirit in a cinematic proposition: Humankind is about to begin all over again.

The choice of a POV places immersion at the very heart of the direction: the viewer is no longer invited to observe history but is thrown right into it.

This deceptively simple idea called for an especially demanding production: nine eras, as many sets and nearly a hundred extras for a 95-second film, shot over three days after seven days of preparation in a studio in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Each birth meant rebuilding an instantly recognisable world: sets, costumes, props, make-up, characters and environments, as well as the real conditions in which a woman might have given birth in that period of history.
The newborn's point of view added a further constraint. Filmed on a wide-angle lens and often at very close range, the characters, faces and details had to remain believable while allowing the viewer to grasp, almost instantly, where they had just "landed".

The film was produced with B2Y, with post-production and VFX handled by Light VFX. It uses digital effects and CGI, but no generative artificial intelligence.

The final birth brings the story full circle with the original HUMANKIND. Aboard the spacecraft, the mother is played by the heroine and icon of the first game, a nod to those who know the universe, at the very moment it is about to begin again.

The film was conceived and directed by Benjamin Le Breton and Arnaud Assouline, Creative Directors at BETC Paris, and produced by Prose on Pixels, the production arm of the Havas/BETC group.

“Birth is the one moment all of humankind shares: the perfect starting point. The newborn's point of view puts the player right where it all begins, ready to write their own story. A real challenge we were determined to meet for real, with real actors, real costumes. Because a film about Humankind should be made by humans.” - Benjamin Le Breton & Arnaud Assouline, Creative Directors and Directors

HUMANKIND II will be available on Steam in 2027.