Far Cry 6 will see players take on the role of Dani Rojas, a revolutionary in the fictional Caribbean island nation of Yara. Yara has been ruled by Anton Castillo for decades, who is now suppressing the revolution while preparing his son to take over the country after his death.
Yara is far from the first fictional country introduced in the Far Cry games. After six main games in the series, here are all the fictional nations and locations that have appeared in the Far Cry games so far, and how Yara fits into Far Cry 6's fictionalized world and possible multiple timelines.
Far Cry's Real-World Influences
Far Cry 1 never gave its setting a name, and it's not even clear that the islands the game takes place on have a name at all. The first game took place on a fictional archipelago in the South Pacific, largely abandoned after World War 2. Far Cry 2 went a step further, with its story taking place in a fictional African nation with two main regions, Leboa-Sako and Bowa-Seko. While this small country is stated to be somewhere in Central Africa, there's evidence to suggest that it's actually based on a West African nation, Mali. Much of the architecture found across Far Cry 2 resembles the masonry of the Dogon people, a group indigenous to Mali. There's even a location in Bowa-Seko simply named "Dogon Village."
The first two games shied away from straining the players' suspension of disbelief, avoiding giving names to either of their settings. Far Cry 2's more specific setting, however, started a trend which Far Cry 3 would run with. For a start, Far Cry 3 established a continuous Far Cry world. One of Far Cry 3's characters, Hurk Drubman Jr, mentions Bowa-Seko as a source of blood diamonds. In Far Cry 4, it's heavily implied that the character Longinus is from Far Cry 2's fictional African country, as he mentions fighting in a civil war, hiding in a church in Pala, and being baptized in the waters of Goka Falls. Both Pala and Goka Falls appear in Far Cry 2.
Far Cry 3 itself takes place on the Rook Islands. The Rook Islands are heavily influenced by Indonesia. The Rakyat people are based on the Dayak people of Indonesia, with Rakyat simply meaning "people" in Indonesian. The presence of Hoyt's Privateers is based on the private military contractors found in Indonesia. The Rook Islands also take influence from New Zealand to some degree, with some Rook Island locals using the Maori phrase "kia ora" when greeting Jason.
The last name and accent of Far Cry 3's villain, Vaas Montenegro, are left unexplained. He is apparently Citra's brother, and therefore a member of the Raykat. It is possible however, that he left the Rook Islands at a young age, returning later as the pirate seen in Far Cry 3.
The continuity between Far Cry's world is further established in Far Cry 4. The Knockoff GPS that Ajay can find is "pre-loaded with a map of the Rook Islands, wherever the hell that is." The Lieutenant from the start of the game can also shout "when I find you, I will send you to the Rook Islands" while searching for Ajay.
Far Cry 4 takes place in Kyrat, a fictional nation in the Himalayas. Kyrat is based largely on Nepal, which Far Cry 4's narrative director and production manager visited while developing the game. This visit was filmed by Vice journalist Krishna Andavolu and released as a three-part documentary. The game's main conflict is based on the Nepalese Civil War which took place between 1996 and 2006, with several veterans of the war interviewed in the documentary. Ajay even wields a Kukri knife, a weapon associated with the Gurkhas of Nepal.
Kyrat does have some key differences with Nepal, however. The language spoken by many of the characters in Kyrat is Hindi, not Nepali, a fact which drew considerable criticism after fans noticed that detail in the trailer. It's unclear, however, if Nepal itself also exists in the Far Cry universe. The name Kyrat is derived from the word Kirata, a general term for mountain people in Sanskrit, making it possible albeit unlikely that Kyrat is simply a fictional addition to Far Cry's world rather than replacing Nepal.
Alternate Timelines And Far Cry's Future
Far Cry 5 blurred the lines of fiction and reality once again. Hope County doesn't exist, but the game is unambiguously set in Montana rather than creating an entirely fictional state. However, it seems unlikely that Far Cry 5 takes place in the same timeline as the other games, including Far Cry 6.
The end of Far Cry 5 would suggest worldwide nuclear Armageddon, and while Yara is clearly in the grips of crisis it is far from post-apocalyptic. Far Cry: New Dawn already explored the world after the apocalypse shown in Far Cry 5. This suggests once again that Far Cry 5 and New Dawn exist in their own timeline, even if that timeline still diverges from the Far Cry world in which locations like the Rook Islands and Kyrat exist.
Far Cry 6 takes place in Yara, returning the series to a tropical island setting. Yara is clearly based on Cuba. Due to a long-lasting embargo, many of the cars like the ones seen in the cinematic trailer are from the 50s and 60s, while the game's narrative director has stated that "when you're talking about guerilla warfare, you go to Cuba."
Anton Castillo's last name appears to be a play on Cuba's Fidel Castro, while the revolution taking place in the game appears to be based on the Cuban Revolution which took place from 1953 to 1959. The fact that Anton's son Diego is wearing what appear to be modern headphones in the trailer suggests that the game takes place around the present day, however.
It seems likely that Yara exists in the same world as the Rook Islands, Far Cry 2's fictional African nation, and Kyrat. It also seems likely that like Kyrat, Yara will essentially replace the real-world location it's based on. Far Cry fans will have to find evidence of the game's other fictional locations while exploring Yara, but based on previous games it's likely that players will meet characters with some connection to the other fictional nations of Far Cry's world.
Far Cry 6 is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.