- Just Cause studio Avalanche was developing a Crimson Desert-like RPG before it had to be canceled.
- The publisher’s new CEO at the time parted ways as he wanted to drop support for darker franchises.
- The game would have had all the elements of Crimson Desert, but with the region liberation gameplay loop of Just Cause.
Avalanche is best known for Just Cause, but the studio has seen the cancellation of multiple titles, like Contraband, across several publishers over the years. One of these games, AionGuard, aimed to be an RPG exactly like Crimson Desert in the late 2000s.
Unfortunately, Avalanche co-founder and ex-CEO Christofer Sundberg reveals that the famous publisher backing the dark fantasy game at the time pulled out. The funding dropped abruptly since the publisher wanted to focus on existing IPs instead of new ones.
Why it matters: Avalanche’s AionGuard could have set a standard in the RPG genre long ago with its Crimson Desert-like mechanics, especially with the Just Cause formula.
Speaking to PC Gamer, Chris says AionGuard mixed Crimson Desert with the conquest-focused gameplay loop of Just Cause, where you had to free multiple regions. The protagonist was a sorcerer-knight tasked with reclaiming the land from evil by conquering strongholds.
You could either recruit local tribes or cut supply lines with airborne strikes using dragons. You could also turn into a 60-foot golem, freeze and shatter giants, and much more in this RPG.
I haven’t played Crimson Desert enough, but we had everything that I’ve seen from Crimson Desert in the plans for that game.
-Avalanche Co-founder, Christofer Sundberg.
While Chris doesn’t name the publisher, an old interview reveals that Disney was funding AionGuard. Bob Iger, the new CEO at the time, began dropping support for darker franchises, which also put the RPG under fire.
Avalanche was unable to secure another publisher despite advertising the game in Edge Magazine in the January 2009 issue.
AionGuard was in development for at least two years. The team involved with the project moved on to Arcadia Rising, another game that was later shelved by THQ.
Do you think a Crimson Desert-like RPG with the region liberation gameplay loop of Just Cause would have proved to be popular, or was the idea just too ambitious? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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