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Rumour: ‘Really Ambitious’ Open World Far Cry Game Enters Development as Ubisoft Kills Series’ Extraction Shooter
Ubisoft is advancing multiple Far Cry projects simultaneously, with a newly-announced open world title codenamed Kodiak now in active development following its conceptual phase. Running parallel to this ambitious venture is Blackbird, which will serve as the franchise's next main instalment and is anticipated to reach audiences before Kodiak's arrival in the coming years.
The publisher has cancelled Maverick, a multiplayer extraction shooter previously in development, with key elements being salvaged to inform Kodiak's design direction. The new game reportedly prioritises player agency and emergent storytelling, and Ubisoft's recent restructuring appears to have allowed the Far Cry franchise to regain forward momentum after prolonged uncertainty about its trajectory.
In short
- Ubisoft is developing a new open world Far Cry game codenamed Kodiak alongside Blackbird, the franchise's next mainline instalment
- The cancelled extraction shooter Maverick has been repurposed to form the foundation of Kodiak's player-driven design
- Blackbird is expected to launch before Kodiak, which remains several years from release
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Far Cry's core strength and player affection lies in its open world sandbox experience, where emergent storytelling and player agency are paramount. The extraction shooter genre has proven commercially difficult for even major publishers, and concentrating development resources on refining the franchise's proven formula whilst exploring innovative narratives within that space represents sensible strategic prioritisation.
The case against
The extraction shooter market demonstrates genuine growth potential and an underutilised opportunity to expand Far Cry's appeal beyond its traditional audience. Diversifying the franchise across multiple gameplay styles could sustain longer-term engagement and cultural relevance, whilst cancelling Maverick abandons an unexplored direction that might have distinguished Far Cry in an increasingly crowded market and represents squandered development investment.
Explained simply
Far Cry is a video game franchise published by Ubisoft that has been around for many years. The series faced uncertainty about its future direction, but this news suggests the publisher is now moving forward with multiple games in development simultaneously.
Ubisoft is working on two main Far Cry projects. Blackbird will be the next traditional Far Cry game in the series and is expected to release first. A second project, codenamed Kodiak, is an ambitious open world game that is currently in active development and will arrive after Blackbird.
The publisher has cancelled a previous project called Maverick, which was intended as a competitive multiplayer game focused on extracting resources and escaping enemy territories. Rather than discarding the work already done, Ubisoft is using some of Maverick's ideas to shape Kodiak's design. This suggests the company's recent internal restructuring has given the Far Cry franchise clearer direction and momentum.