Christofer Sundberg, the co-founder of Avalanche Studios, has poured cold water on any hopes of Just Cause 5 seeing the light of day, following reports earlier in the year that a new instalment in the open-world action franchise had been shelved.
Speaking in a series of posts on X, Sundberg addressed the cancelled project known as Contraband, before describing Just Cause 5 as a ‘no go’ simply because many of the original team are no longer around at the studio.
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Me and my team pitched Contraband back in 2017 to MSFT (and signed it). It’s changed quite a lot since then obviously, but it would have been fantastic to see it being released one day somehow. #JC5 would be a no-go since extremely few from the original team are there still.
When an X user suggested that Just Cause 5 would ‘save the company and the team,’ Sundberg replied:
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 to fit into one.
Sumo Digital was believed to have been working on Just Cause 5 between July 2021 — July 2023, according to the LinkedIn profile of a former employee with the studio. Avalanche Studios obviously handled the franchise up to that point, although as Square Enix owns the IP, it could have simply shifted development duties to Sumo Digital for a fifth game for whatever reason.
Sandberg is currently working at Liquid Swords, the studio he founded back in December 2020, although the company unfortunately suffered layoffs earlier this year. Despite this, the developer remains committed to working on its new IP.
[Source – Christofer Sundberg on X via MP1st, InsiderGaming]