Avalanche Studios, the developer behind the iconic Just Cause series, has closed down its Liverpool office.
Following Microsoft’s cancellation of Contraband—which was scrapped alongside a new MMO by the devs of Elder Scrolls Online, Perfect Dark, Everwild, and John Romero’s new game—Avalanche has been forced to shut down one of its studios.
In a statement to fans, the game developer explained that its main studio in Stockholm, Sweden and its casual gaming subsidiary Expansive Worlds in Malmo are currently fine. However, the decision to axe its Liverpool offices comes after the closure of offices in both Montreal and New York last year.
“The exceptional talent, passion, and commitment of everyone who is leaving us has had an impact on every project. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and invaluable contributions to the Avalanche Studios group,” the studio announced.
“Our priority remains to support our staff during this transition and to continue creating great games for our gaming communities.”
Following the cancellation of Contraband, it’s unknown what games Avalanche Studios is working on at the time of writing. While its casual gaming subsidiary Expansive Worlds is likely working on another entry in its popular theHunter series, it’s not known what’s in the works at the main bulk of Avalanche.
Unfortunately, it does seem that another Just Cause game is not on the table right now, despite fans frequently requesting a sequel or reboot. Speaking on Twitter earlier this year, former founder Christofer Sundberg explained that “Just Cause 5 would be a no-go since extremely few from the original team are there [at Avalanche] still.”
“They need to find the fire again, take risks, p**s people off and make games the rest said was impossible. I started Avalanche to break the mold, not to fit into one,” the original Just Cause designer told fans.
“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,” he continued. “Sad, because looking at JC4 now, it shows SO much promise.”
