{"id":1872101,"date":"2026-04-08T11:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872101"},"modified":"2026-04-08T11:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T08:02:22","slug":"just-cause-developer-avalanche-studios-had-a-crimson-desert-like-game-in-the-works-but-every-publisher-just-shut-the-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1872101","title":{"rendered":"Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios had a Crimson Desert-like game in the works but &#8220;every publisher just shut the door&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/crimson-desert\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Crimson Desert<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios had a Crimson Desert-like game in the works but &#8220;every publisher just shut the door&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">One partner &#8220;broke up with us on a text message&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Crimson-Desert-dragon-riding.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Kliff riding a dragon in Crimson Desert\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Crimson-Desert-dragon-riding.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Pearl Abyss<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-04-08T11:02:22+00:00\">April 8, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/just-cause-developer-avalanche-cancelled-game-aionguard?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          5 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"10cf2e53-bea5-44e6-bc6c-98d8a341d473\" data-name=\"Crimson Desert\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Crimson Desert\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Crimson Desert\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Crimson Desert\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Crimson Desert\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Crimson Desert\" title=\"Follow Crimson Desert\"><br \/>\n  Follow Crimson Desert<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/crimson-desert\">Crimson Desert<\/a> might not be everything we hoped it would be but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/crimson-desert-smashes-another-sales-milestone-less-than-two-weeks-since-its-release\">it has undeniably found an audience<\/a> and reminded everyone there&#8217;s still significant interest in sprawling open-world games. A studio that knows a thing or two about such projects is Avalanche, best known for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/just-cause-4\">Just Cause<\/a> series, and it turns out it had a similar game in the works.<\/p>\n<p>At least that&#8217;s what Avalanche co-founder and former chief creative officer Christofer Sundberg <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/rpg\/avalanches-cancelled-aionguard-would-have-been-crimson-desert-but-the-publisher-broke-up-with-us-on-a-text-message\/\">told PC Gamer<\/a> during a recent chat. &#8220;It was exactly that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t played Crimson Desert enough, but we had everything that I&#8217;ve seen from Crimson Desert in the plans for that game.&#8221; He was talking about AionGuard, a long-forgotten title which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/avalanche-unveils-unsigned-aionguard\">even made it to Edge Magazine with a big reveal back in 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The PC Gamer article describes AionGuard as &#8220;a fantasy open world fever dream&#8221; which had the player controlling a sorcerer-knight of sorts cleansing the land from evil while riding a dragon, and even becoming a giant golem. Just Cause DNA was felt throughout the game with a structure based on liberating regions and conquering strongholds to make progress in your campaign against the dark forces. Not every part of this shows up in Crimson Desert, but there&#8217;s an echo in the general idea and raw ambition of both games.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was signed with a big publisher that has a lot of famous IPs&#8230; And then they just changed business direction again and wanted to focus on their existing IPs instead of new ones,&#8221; Sundberg said. &#8220;They broke up with us on a text message, which I will never forgive them for.&#8221; And if you&#8217;re wondering who the &#8216;mystery&#8217; publisher was, former Disney Interactive employee Martin Alltimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeextension.com\/news\/2024\/07\/the-story-of-aionguard-avalanches-lost-fantasy-gta-for-ps3-and-xbox-360\">confirmed in 2024 to Time Extension<\/a> that the company originally backed AionGuard.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As for what happened next, Avalanche decided to announce the game on its own, which unexpectedly caused the opposite of the intended effect: &#8220;Every publisher just shut the door, because it was already announced&#8230; We already had it working. And so that just died out silently.&#8221; In the end, Avalanche pushed onwards with more Just Cause and its underrated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mad-max\">Mad Max<\/a> game, among other projects.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Just Cause 4 - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EBwCnwoMq-I?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/EBwCnwoMq-I\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Just Cause 4 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EBwCnwoMq-I\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The last project shipped by Avalanche was 2019&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/rage-2\">Rage 2<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-exclusive-contraband-reportedly-cancelled-as-avalanche-states-its-active-development-has-now-stopped\">Co-op sandbox game Contraband<\/a> was in the works since at least early 2021 and set to be published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/xbox-game-studios\">Xbox Game Studios<\/a>, but it was cancelled last year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/crimson-desert\">Crimson Desert<\/a> might not be everything we hoped it would be but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/crimson-desert-smashes-another-sales-milestone-less-than-two-weeks-since-its-release\">it has undeniably found an audience<\/a> and reminded everyone there&#8217;s still significant interest in sprawling open-world games. A studio that knows a thing or two about such projects is Avalanche, best known for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/just-cause-4\">Just Cause<\/a> series, and it turns out it had a similar game in the works.<\/p>\n<p>At least that&#8217;s what Avalanche co-founder and former chief creative officer Christofer Sundberg <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/rpg\/avalanches-cancelled-aionguard-would-have-been-crimson-desert-but-the-publisher-broke-up-with-us-on-a-text-message\/\">told PC Gamer<\/a> during a recent chat. &#8220;It was exactly that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t played Crimson Desert enough, but we had everything that I&#8217;ve seen from Crimson Desert in the plans for that game.&#8221; He was talking about AionGuard, a long-forgotten title which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/avalanche-unveils-unsigned-aionguard\">even made it to Edge Magazine with a big reveal back in 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The PC Gamer article describes AionGuard as &#8220;a fantasy open world fever dream&#8221; which had the player controlling a sorcerer-knight of sorts cleansing the land from evil while riding a dragon, and even becoming a giant golem. Just Cause DNA was felt throughout the game with a structure based on liberating regions and conquering strongholds to make progress in your campaign against the dark forces. Not every part of this shows up in Crimson Desert, but there&#8217;s an echo in the general idea and raw ambition of both games.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was signed with a big publisher that has a lot of famous IPs&#8230; And then they just changed business direction again and wanted to focus on their existing IPs instead of new ones,&#8221; Sundberg said. &#8220;They broke up with us on a text message, which I will never forgive them for.&#8221; And if you&#8217;re wondering who the &#8216;mystery&#8217; publisher was, former Disney Interactive employee Martin Alltimes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeextension.com\/news\/2024\/07\/the-story-of-aionguard-avalanches-lost-fantasy-gta-for-ps3-and-xbox-360\">confirmed in 2024 to Time Extension<\/a> that the company originally backed AionGuard.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As for what happened next, Avalanche decided to announce the game on its own, which unexpectedly caused the opposite of the intended effect: &#8220;Every publisher just shut the door, because it was already announced&#8230; We already had it working. And so that just died out silently.&#8221; In the end, Avalanche pushed onwards with more Just Cause and its underrated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/mad-max\">Mad Max<\/a> game, among other projects.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Just Cause 4 - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EBwCnwoMq-I?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/EBwCnwoMq-I\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Just Cause 4 &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EBwCnwoMq-I\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>The last project shipped by Avalanche was 2019&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/rage-2\">Rage 2<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-exclusive-contraband-reportedly-cancelled-as-avalanche-states-its-active-development-has-now-stopped\">Co-op sandbox game Contraband<\/a> was in the works since at least early 2021 and set to be published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/companies\/xbox-game-studios\">Xbox Game Studios<\/a>, but it was cancelled last year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Crimson Desert Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios had a Crimson Desert-like game in the works but &#8220;every publisher just shut the door&#8221; One partner &#8220;broke up with us on a text message&#8221;. Image credit: Pearl Abyss News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on April 8, 2026 5 comments Follow Crimson Desert Crimson Desert [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1872101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1872101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1872101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1872101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1872101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1872101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}