Just Cause 5 Was Actually in Development at Sumo Digital

Although not many people were particularly excited about it, following the mixed-to-negative reception of the fourth chapter, it appears to have been confirmed that Just Cause 5 was indeed in development at some point at Sumo Digital, only to be canceled sometime between 2022 and 2023.

The apparent confirmation, first spotted by MP1st, comes from the LinkedIn profile of Marcus Reynolds, a former Principal Game Designer and Feature Team Lead at Sumo Digital. Under his Experience section, Marcus notes that he led the vehicles team for Just Cause 5, revealing that the project has since been canceled.

What makes the reveal particularly notable is not just the cancellation itself, but the fact that Sumo Digital was involved in the game's development. It's currently unclear whether the studio was just assisting Avalanche Studios or if rightsholder Square Enix chose to outsource the project to Sumo entirely following the lukewarm reception of Just Cause 4.

The reveal also confirms that the "new title in the franchise" briefly mentioned by Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda in 2022 was, in fact, referring to Just Cause 5 and not Just Cause Mobile, a mobile installment in the iconic franchise, announced in 2020 and discontinued in 2023. Given the timeline, it's possible both projects were canned around the same period, raising questions about the reason for the cancellations and Square Enix's future plans for the series.

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