Avalanche turns to â??big new projectâ??

Swedish studio Avalanche has now moved the majority of its staff to work on a “big new project”, the group’s CEO has revealed.

In an interview with Develop, Avalanche founder Christofer Sundberg said that the new project was a sign of the studio’s return to good health following a string of layoffs and project cancellations that hit the group last year.

“Most of the company is working on this new big project,” he said. “We are finishing up Just Cause 2; I think there’s less than ten people working on that game now as it gets closer to release.”

Just Cause 2, set for release in late March, will be published by Yoichi Wada’s Square Enix, after the Japanese giant acquired former publisher Eidos.

Offering insight into Square’s light-touch approach, Sundberg says that the takeover has had no affect on Just Cause project at all, joking that all that’s changed is the email addresses.

Of the group’s new project, Sundberg was not at liberty to offer any additional information, aside from confirming that it isn’t the group’s previous endeavour, AionGuard.

Avalanche announced last week that it had successfully acquired the rights to free-to-play MMO IP, The Hunter. The studio is now opening up a new studio in a bid to breathe new life into the game.

Read more about that new push here, or read the full interview here.