Just Cause 5 a “No-go” as Avalanche Studios faces talent drain amid Contraband’s cancellation
Fans of the Just Cause series will have to say their goodbyes to Rico Rodriguez as Just Cause 5 won’t be happening. Creator of the Just Cause Series Christofer Sundberg announced that Just Cause 5 at Avalanche Studios is basically a “no-go.”
Co-founder and creator of Just Cause, Sundberg left Avalanche Studios in 2019. After gazing at leaked screenshots of the now-canceled Contraband game, he said, “#JC5 would be a no-go since extremely few from the original team are there still.”
According to Sundberg, he made a “qualified guess”, but later followed up with replies and revealed that deeper issues plague Avalanche Studios, specifically talent drain that began right during the troubled production of Just Cause 4.
Just Cause 4 was released nearly seven years ago on December 4, 2018, and received mixed reviews from the get-go, mainly due to glitches, weather mechanics, and a pivot from the franchise’s core chaotic mayhem. However, post-launch updates appeased longtime fans of the series.
In his post, Sundberg took partial blame for the troubled development of Just Cause 4, stating:
The problems with JC4 were partly me (unwillingly) moving away from creative leadership to more corporate crap, publisher problems, team composition and roles, and more.
Sad, because looking at JC4 now, it shows SO much promise.
However, fans aren’t giving up on the Just Cause series. One user declared that Just Cause 5 might save the company. However, Sundberg shot him down and said, “I doubt it. They need to find the fire again, take risks, piss people off, and make games; the rest said was impossible. I started Avalanche to break the mold, not fit into one.”
Unfortunately, Avalanche’s problems have only mounted since the studio halted development on Contraband, which was supposed to be a 1970s co-op smuggling game. The project was initially proposed by Sundberg and his team to Microsoft earlier in 2017.
However, Microsoft’s restructuring plans rolled in, leading to the cancellation of Contraband and massive layoffs at Avalanche. By late September, Avalanche announced that it would close down its Liverpool office and cut down staff in Malmo and Stockholm, amid “industry challenges.”
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