Far Cry 6 is one of the most highly anticipated Ubisoft games currently in development. The previous two releases, Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn, were both enjoyable entries into the series that ended up having polarizing effects on its fanbase for a variety of different reasons, but for many, Far Cry 3 is still considered the one to beat. The team in charge of creating the newest Far Cry adventure is making sure to step lightly into the future of the franchise.
Having now passed the initially estimated release date for Far Cry 6 by a considerable amount of time (mostly due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and effects on production), people are eager to see gameplay footage and all the ways Ubisoft spiced up the popular first-person shooter. That footage, however, may not come for a little while longer.
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Far Cry 6 game design director Ted Timmins recently tweeted about the game at a fan who goes by the name Boris on Twitter. Boris asked when people would be able to see gameplay footage and Timmins responded that the team needs more time, but it will soon have ‘exciting things’ to show the fan community. The post was accompanied by a gif of Genie from Disney’s Aladdin zipping his mouth shut. Basically, there is no further news about Far Cry 6 at this time.
Timmins’ tightlipped response has left the internet to wonder about the fate of Dani Rojas, the newest Far Cry protagonist, as well as the new antagonists, the Castillo family. There's a whole list of things that has yet to be revealed, and as with many games, actual gameplay usually comes early in the marketing cycle. Many companies lead with a cinematic then a gameplay, which makes the lack of a potential gameplay reveal somewhat confusing.
The delay in information about the game could be Ubisoft’s way of protecting itself from even the slightest possible internet backlash. Information travels fast in the modern world, and if a company allows people to see a product before it’s ready, it could spell out death for the project. The delay has been taken by many fans to mean that the company cares about the game and is doing its best to polish it before people spend money on it. This approach is one that gamers are happy to withstand compared to the complete letdown of receiving a subpar product for $60 on release day.
While players initially thought Far Cry 6 would be released at some point in 2021, the longer people go without this initial, early reveal of info, the less likely a 2021 release date looks possible. Of course, it could still happen. Ubisoft might be waiting until the holiday season to release it in order to capitalize on holiday shopping sales, as it may need extra time to compensate for all of the work hours lost due to Coronavirus. A lot of companies have witnessed the type of damage that building hype for a game and then releasing a premature product can have.
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One of the hardest aspects of releasing a major game right now is making sure that it works for the previous generation and the current generation consoles. A lot of gamers are still using PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and developers everywhere are bending over backward to make it possible for everyone to play new games. The overlap period between consoles can lead to massive delays in games that now have to optimize the experience for twice as many systems. Some fans think companies should just release one generation’s version first and then the other generation, but most companies prefer to release every version of the game in one go.
One massive difference between Far Cry 6 and its recent predecessors is the fact that the player character will speak with an actual voice again. Far Cry 5 and Far Cry New Dawn both opted to have a silent protagonist, which partly came to pass because of the implementation of new character customization options that would have required a more complicated voice-over process. The newest antagonist, Anton Castillo, is voiced by Giancarlo Esposito and is expected to return to Far Cry's tradition of great villains. Now that players will control a fully customizable character that can verbally express thoughts and emotions opposite a very exciting bad guy, things are looking good for the future of Far Cry.
Until players are given more information, it is safe to assume that Far Cry 6, though definitely worth excitement, will most likely need a lot more time before it's ready for launch. There is still hope for a 2021 release, but a 2022 release seems more likely. Ultimately, the way things look so far, Far Cry 6 could change the franchise forever, and the excitement of it makes waiting for it that much more difficult.
Far Cry 6 is currently in development for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Stadia.