Avalanche Studios, the creator behind Mad Max, Rage 2, and the Just Cause series—not to be confused with Hogwarts Legacy developer Avalanche Software—hasn’t revisited its signature open-world franchise in several years. Moreover, the company’s co-founder has expressed doubts about a potential Just Cause 5 happening anytime soon.
Christofer Sundberg, co-founder of Avalanche Studios, recently took to social media to respond to leaked images of *Contraband*, an open-world co-op heist game that was ultimately scrapped by publisher Xbox after years in development.
“Me and my team pitched *Contraband* back in 2017,” Sundberg recalled. “It’s changed quite a lot since then obviously, but it would have been fantastic to see it being released one day somehow.”
Although Sundberg no longer works at Avalanche Studios, he shared insights and speculations about the future of the Just Cause franchise. He noted that *Just Cause 5* “would be a no-go since extremely few from the original team are still there. It’s a qualified guess,” he added.
Sundberg also reflected on some of the challenges faced during the development of *Just Cause 4*:
“The problems with JC4 was 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.”
Following the lukewarm reception of 2018’s *Just Cause 4*—a game still praised for its excellent grappling and para-gliding traversal—Square Enix quietly revealed in 2022 that it was working on a new Just Cause title. However, posts from a former employee suggest that this project, along with a *Just Cause Mobile* spin-off, may have been canceled.
Despite these setbacks, the Just Cause franchise isn’t completely out of the picture. After years of development challenges, the *Just Cause* movie is finally moving forward, with talent from the *John Wick* and DC franchises attached to the project.
Perhaps this cinematic adaptation will be enough to breathe new life into the franchise fans have been waiting for.
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/open-world/just-cause-5-would-be-a-no-go-because-of-studio-departures-avalanche-co-founder-says-but-he-wouldve-loved-for-xboxs-canceled-contraband-see-the-light-of-day/
