Avalanche Studios CEO Christofer Sundberg has spilled the beans on some of his development studios' cancelled and forthcoming projects. Though Sundberg doesn't mention any games or franchises by name he does suggest that Avalanche is in the midst of development on Just Cause 3.
In various updates to his LinkedIn profile, Sunberg mentions that Avalanche is working on a "sandbox action game" for Square Enix. Square Enix just so happens to be the publisher for the Just Cause franchise.
It was reported earlier that Avalanche was working on a title codenamed Project Mamba, and now it is believed that game is Just Cause 3. More importantly, details surrounding the game suggest it will be a big departure for the open world adventure franchise.
The most apparent change Avalanche is rumored to be bringing to Just Cause 3 is a form of asynchronous multiplayer. Asynchronous multiplayer was all the rage at this past E3, and is an easy way for gamers to interact with each other's game world without being online at the same time.
How exactly that type of experience would fit into Just Cause 3 is unclear, but it certainly sounds intriguing. Imagine if players could impact their shared game world by destroying buildings, burning foliage, or just causing general mayhem.
A feature like this, however, could only be made possible with the help of next-gen technology. Thankfully, Sundberg suggests that Just Cause 3 will be developed for the next-gen. Sundberg also added that the title is looking at a 2015 release date.
It sounds too good to be true: a Just Cause game developed for the next-gen, but at some point one of the big open world franchises is going to make the leap. And we're hoping it will be awesome.
Both Just Cause 1 and Just Cause 2 pushed the open world genre to its limits, but from a gameplay perspective the two titles were a little lacking. If Avalanche were to take a massive and interactive open world, and outfit with a solid set of gameplay mechanics and missions, Just Cause 3 could become a major Grand Theft Auto competitor.
What do you think about Just Cause 3 being developed for the next-gen? How would you like to see asynchronous multiplayer factor into the game?
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