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A mysterious photo making the rounds on social media was purportedly taken at Avalanche Studios during Mad Max 2’s development.
Released in 2015, Avalanche’s open-world Aussie apocalypse sim Mad Max turned out to be quite good, and it reportedly sold quite well, too. But it never got a sequel: After its launch, Avalanche returned to the Just Cause series, made Rage 2 for Bethesda, and is now working on a ’70s smuggling sim called Contraband. But die-hard warriors of the wasteland were given a ray of hope last week when a photo allegedly taken during the development of Mad Max 2 was shared on social media.
«Before times, at @AvalancheSweden in New York, when O’Neil invited me to get scanned to be in Mad Max 2, as a rebel,» creative technologist Wendy W. Fok tweeted. «The magic of #photogrammetry, 3D Scanning, & many cameras @MadMaxGame.»
Before times, at @AvalancheSweden in New York, when O’Neil invited me to get scanned to be in Mad Max 2, as a rebel. The magic of #photogrammetry, 3D Scanning, & many cameras @MadMaxGame. pic.twitter.com/gIjzC3zM54February 7, 2022
The same photo, with the same message, was also shared on Fok’s LinkedIn page.
It’s not at all ambiguous—Mad Max 2 is right there in the tweet. Even so, it’s far from clear that a new Mad Max game is in the works. For one thing, while Fok’s «before times» tweet doesn’t indicate when the photo was taken, it appeared on the We Designs Twitter feed way back in February 2017.
That was a full five years ago, and less than two years after the release of Mad Max—a reasonable window for production on a Mad Max sequel to be underway, and more than enough time for the project to be cancelled, especially with the onset of the pandemic.
#gaming – a few members of our @WE_DESIGNS_LLC team will be part of their new #game @AvalancheSweden #videogame // #photogrammetry @W_W_F pic.twitter.com/jjdusApJccFebruary 4, 2017
It may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s possible that Fok and her coworkers were actually destined for Rage 2, or were redirected that way at some point—Rage NPCs are essentially Mad Max villains, after all. Whatever the case, it’s notable that neither Avalanche nor Mad Max publisher Warner Bros Interactive have rushed to get the tweet taken down. They’re clearly not too concerned about the cat being let out of the bag on this one.
So it’s possible that a new Mad Max is in development at Avalanche, but is it likely happening, right now? I»m not convinced. Just in case, though, I’ve reached out to Wok and Avalanche Studios for more information, and will update if I receive a reply.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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