Ubisoft Wants to Change the ‘Far Cry Formula’ with Far Cry 7 and Maverick

In 2023, Insider Gaming had several reports on the Far Cry series throughout the year. Notably, the Far Cry series currently has two games in development, which were both originally under the same game and codenamed Talisker. Its next mainline title is now under the codename Blackbird, and an extraction-based shooter is under the codename Maverick. Both games are still in development at the time of writing, but their release dates have been pushed back internally from 2025 to 2026 due to complexities in development.

Moving from Dunia to Snowdrop and under development at Ubisoft Montreal, both games are set to move away from the ‘Far Cry formula’. Maverick, which takes place in the Alaskan wilderness, will see players fight one another, animals, and the harsh weather to survive. On the flip side, Blackbird will now see the player have to rescue his family (NOT played by Cillian Murphy), who have been kidnapped by a conspiracy cult who have been performing hallucinogenic experiments on animals and children. It’s said that the player has 24 real-life hours (72 hours in-game) to rescue their family, and the timer is reflected in-game by the player wearing a watch on his wrist.

But it isn’t just the gameplay loop of both games changing. It’s understood that both games have had a significant overhaul to their movement systems, too, including the addition of tactical spriting, sliding, vaulting, and more. Seemingly, this is due to both projects originating from the same game and sharing similar movement mechanics, with the similarities of both games bleeding into one another. Other aspects, including the inventory system and looting, also appear to bleed from the extraction-based shooter into Blackbird, too, with sources outlining that it doesn’t affect the mainline entry. “I’d argue it makes a lot of sense given your desperation to rescue your family,” said one source when asked.

Internally, Ubisoft Montreal and its supporting studios on Blackbird are optimistic, but some concerns over Maverick and its future loom given recent events at the publisher. Ubisoft has been attempting to do a Far Cry multiplayer for the best part of a decade, and while an extraction shooter could make a lot of sense for the Far Cry universe, it was ultimately greenlit to chase trends, and the genre doesn’t seem to have attracted the player’s numbers that the industry thought it would.

Defiant’s recent cancellation and subsequent layoffs felt like the beginning of a downward spiral, said some staff, with Yves’ internal memo following the announcement of its cancellation not inspiring much confidence in those already unsure about their project’s future.

For now, though, Ubisoft is seemingly trying to break its own trend of chasing trends, and Far Cry 7 (or whatever it’s called) and Maverick seems to be a step in the right direction, albeit a considerable risk.