Avalanche’s Cancelled AionGuard Would Have Rivalled Crimson Desert

Christofer Sundberg, who was Avalanche Studios’ creative head, thinks the studio’s cancelled dragon-riding fantasy game AionGuard would have competed directly with Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert. This game is currently boasting 91,194 concurrent players on Steam and has an impressive 86% positive rating from 55,226 reviews.

AionGuard was developed at Avalanche during the late 2000s by the team known for the Just Cause series. The project included dragon-riding and open-world fantasy combat but was ultimately put on hold. Sundberg, who led the studio’s creative efforts, sees a clear link between the potential of AionGuard and what Crimson Desert achieved years later.

“It would have been Crimson Desert,” Sundberg told Rock Paper Shotgun. He highlights this comparison to show both AionGuard’s ambition and the opportunity Avalanche missed. This situation emphasizes how crowded the action-RPG genre has become and how long ideas can linger before another studio brings them to life.

Crimson Desert was released on March 19, 2026, priced at $69.99 on Steam. Pearl Abyss, the Korean developer and publisher behind Black Desert Online, took years to shift the game from an MMO prequel to a standalone single-player action-RPG. This shift seems to have paid off, as player numbers are consistently above 90,000 right now.

The comparison also raises questions about what Avalanche might have created if they had received publisher backing for AionGuard back in the late 2000s. The studio’s experience with open-world design, proven through several Just Cause titles, could have laid a solid foundation for the large-scale fantasy combat that Crimson Desert now offers. Instead, AionGuard became another ambitious project that never left internal development. TheGamer mentions Sundberg’s previous COO role to suggest the cancellation was more about business decisions than creative ones.

By The Numbers

Crimson Desert Steam Rating	86% positive
Total Steam Reviews	55,226
Current Steam Players	91,194
Launch Price (Steam)	$69.99
Crimson Desert Release Date	March 19, 2026

The community has been quite vocal about Crimson Desert, especially regarding the discrepancies in review scores. One Steam user, with plenty of hours logged, remarked: “Let this review serve as a reminder that IGN gave this game a 6 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard a 9.” This sentiment has shown up frequently in the review section, hinting at a coordinated response to critical reviews rather than just organic praise. The differences between press scores and player ratings continue to be a point of contention for this game.

What To Watch

• Whether Sundberg or any other former Avalanche staff share more about AionGuard’s design documents or prototype footage. The dragon-riding mechanic alone could spark plenty of interest, especially with Crimson Desert’s current success.
• How the player count for Crimson Desert holds up in the coming weeks. If it stays above 90,000 without a major content update, that would indicate strong word-of-mouth retention beyond just launch traffic.
• Any reaction from Pearl Abyss regarding the AionGuard comparison. The studio has been proactive in shaping the public narrative around Crimson Desert, and a direct comparison to a cancelled competitor’s project typically prompts some official commentary.