Avalanche Studios, best known for the Just Cause series, quietly shelved an ambitious fantasy open‑world project that drew comparisons to Crimson Desert after failing to secure publisher interest.

The cancelled title, reported under the codename AionGuard, aimed to deliver the sprawling landscapes and action‑driven gameplay associated with modern open‑world RPGs. According to reporting by Eurogamer, Avalanche representatives said that "every publisher just shut the door" when the studio shopped the project around.

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The news underlines the difficulty for mid‑sized developers to fund large‑scale, high‑risk projects in a market that increasingly favours established IPs, live‑service models or publisher backing. Avalanche's pedigree with open‑world design and physics‑driven systems made the project notable, but publisher reluctance ultimately prevented it from moving forward.

Eurogamer's full report contains additional context and quotes from Avalanche on the cancelled project and the studio's outlook: Eurogamer.