A series of job listings for Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios have been spotted, indicating that, among other things, the studio is using Unreal Engine for its new game rather than its own Apex Engine. Among the job listings are one for a technical director and another for a gameplay systems programmer.
The technical director’s listing indicates that the company has moved on from the prototyping stage of its project into pre-production. To proceed with development, the studio wants a technical director with experience working with Unreal Engine across a variety of disciplines to oversee “everything from core systems to performance optimization and multiplayer stability.”
The gameplay systems programmer listing also sheds some more light on what kind of multiplayer we can expect from Avalanche’s next project. The role has been described as “central” in helping the studio create features and content ready for “large-scale multiplayer environments”. It also requires the candidate to have experience in “working in a live-service game environment” on aspects like content updates and feature rollouts.
Just last month, another job listing on the studio indicated that it was working on an “unannounced AAA project”. The role – a senior technical designer – would require a generalist for a variety of disciplines, including technical design, gameplay development, and general coordination between the teams. Interestingly, however, the listing indicated that the studio would continue using Apex Engine. However, things may have changed during the prototyping stage, and Epic Games, having recently unveiled Unreal Engine 6, may have had a role in the decision to move over.
As for whether this new project will be in the Just Cause franchise, studio co-founder and current CCO of Samson developer Liquid Swords, Christofer Sundberg, has indicated that it might be a “no-go”. In a social media post, he said that too few people who worked on the older Just Cause games are still at the studio. In a series of tweets, Sundberg also went into detail about the development of Just Cause 4.
“The problems with JC4 were partly me (unwillingly) moving away from creative leadership to more corporate crap, publisher problems, team composition and roles and more,” he wrote. “They need to find the fire again, take risks, piss people off and make games, the rest said was impossible.”
The last major release by Avalanche Studios itself was RAGE 2 back in 2019. In the meantime, other studios under the larger Avalanche Studios Group have also released some games, including Call of the Wild: The Angler in 2022 and Ravenbound in 2023. As for the studio, it had decided to focus on developing its own IP and self-publishing. 2024 also saw Avalanche Studios make a difficult decision by shutting down its New York and Montreal studios, affecting 50 employees.
“This is an exceptionally difficult decision, but we believe it’s necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company,” wrote the company. “Our focus is now on supporting all Avalanchers through this challenging time. We’re grateful for the invaluable contributions of those leaving and remain committed to creating incredible gaming experiences for our players.”
