Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios confirms a new AAA MMO game in the works, as per recent job listings. The upcoming title will be the studio’s first release since 2023, following mass layoffs and Contraband's cancellation in 2025.
Avalanche Studios Hiring New Developers for Unnamed Game
AAA Online Multiplayer Game is in Active Development
Avalanche Studios Group (Just Cause, theHunter) has confirmed that a new AAA Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game is in active development at its Stockholm studio, according to job listings posted in the past week.
Six new job ads hiring programmers and artists for an unspecified title have gone up on the studio’s official LinkedIn since May 21. The studio is looking for people "to shape the online backbone for an ambitious new game currently in active development," with experience in AAA production and “large-scale multiplayer environments.”
The project appears to heavily feature animals and creatures, as the studio’s listing for a Lead Character Artist calls for someone who is "a subject-matter expert in animal anatomy, behavior, and realism." The Senior Gameplay Programmer listing calls for someone with "very strong Unreal Engine knowledge," which may mean that the studio will no longer use its proprietary Apex Engine.
Three listings for back-end engineers have been posted in the past week, alongside the project-specific dev roles, suggesting that the studio is gearing up to handle a larger volume of player data.
The game could be Avalanche Studios' first release since 2023, following the cancellation of the highly anticipated co-op multiplayer Contraband in 2025. Avalanche Studios has yet to announce any upcoming games on its website or social media channels.
This is not the first time job listings have indirectly confirmed that the studio is working on an untitled project. In April 2026, a now-removed job ad for a Senior Technical Designer called for a tech design generalist to "play a vital role in the development of an unannounced AAA project."
Fans Hope for Just Cause 5
Some fans on social media speculate that the project could be Just Cause 5. The last Just Cause game was released way back in 2018, and a 2022 Square Enix financial report confirmed that a new title was in development for the franchise. There have been no official announcements about the development or cancellation of the game’s fifth installment.
However, Just Cause 5 is a "no-go," according to the game’s founder and creator, Christofer Sundberg. In an X (formerly Twitter) post from August 2025, Sundberg stated that a fifth installment in the series is unlikely because "extremely few" developers from the original team remain involved with the game.
The news of an unnamed Avalanche Studios project has elicited mixed reactions from fans. Some look forward to seeing a new Avalanche Studios title after three years, while others are skeptical of their departure from Just Cause’s single-player system, which put them on the map.
Fans have expressed their concerns about the studio entering an oversaturated MMO market, citing the recent closure of the popular MMO Destiny 2 as proof of the genre’s unpredictability. Whether Avalanche Studios can maintain the quality fans have come to expect from them in a live-update game is another cause of concern.
The future of the Just Cause video game series remains unclear. However, a Just Cause live-action film adaptation is reported to be in the works at Universal Studios. In 2025, The Wrap confirmed that director Ángel Manuel Soto (Blue Beetle) and writer Aaron Rabin (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) are attached to the project.
Staffing A New Game After Layoffs and Cancellations
This news follows mass layoffs from Avalanche Studios closing three of its five offices. New York and Montreal shut down in 2024, followed by Liverpool in 2025. The studio currently operates out of Stockholm and Malmö, and has not officially announced any active projects since 2023.
2023’s open-world roguelite Ravenbound was the last game the studio released. In the same year, Square Enix cancelled a free-to-play mobile Just Cause co-op shooter. The latest news about an Avalanche Studios project came in August 2025, when development partner Xbox announced that progress on the MMO Contraband had been "stopped while [they] evaluate the project’s future."
Avalanche Studios has seemingly set its sights on a new project, pivoting away from the single-player format they are known for and into the MMO space. The studio has yet to make an official announcement about its future plans.
Sources:
Avalanche Studios Group LinkedIn
An Update on Contraband
Square Enix 2022 Financial Report
Just Cause Live Action Adaptation
