Avalanche Studios, the Swedish developer best known for the Just Cause series and Mad Max, has a history marked by numerous cancelled projects. Recently, studio co-founder and former Chief Creative Officer Christofer Sundberg told PC Gamer that the 2009 cancellation of the open-world fantasy game AionGuard remains a source of lingering regret.
Sundberg is currently working on the debut title, Samson, for his new studio, Liquid Swords. However, during the interview, he spent considerable time reflecting on a "breakup" from over a decade ago that still rankles him. At the time, a major publisher with a portfolio of famous IP unilaterally terminated its partnership with Avalanche via a single text message, citing a shift in business strategy to focus resources on existing brands.
"I haven't played Crimson Desert deeply, but everything I see in Crimson Desert is what I had in the plans for AionGuard," Sundberg recalled. He clearly remains bitter about how the situation was handled, bluntly stating that he still cannot forgive the publisher for their actions.
A High-Stakes Open-World Vision
AionGuard was originally slated for the PS3 and Xbox 360. According to a 2009 report by Kotaku, the game would have allowed players to take on the role of an "AionGuard" member, rebuilding order in a post-apocalyptic world by capturing various strongholds. The gameplay offered a high degree of freedom, allowing players to choose between direct combat or strategic sabotage of enemy supply lines—a design that feels remarkably forward-thinking even by today's standards.
Although Avalanche Studios bought back the rights after the project was scrapped, the game never saw the light of day. Sundberg explained that because the project had been heavily promoted on the cover of EDGE magazine, every subsequent publisher they approached rejected it the moment they heard the name. He believes that the premature publicity essentially served as the game's "death warrant."
Today, apart from a few low-resolution screenshots, this project—which might have defined a new standard for open-world fantasy games—has completely vanished. Whether it could have truly reached the heights of Crimson Desert is a question that may never be answered.
