Square Enix

Just Cause statistics

Fact-checked
First Released
September 22, 2006
Genre
Action-adventure
Developer
Avalanche Studios
Publisher
Square Enix

Story direction and narrative are important aspects of many video games, but what if you want to just let loose and do whatever you want? Crash planes and strap rockets to cows to make them fly, or even more crazy stuff just because you can? Well, that is precisely what you are free to do in Just Cause. The Just Cause series has been around since 2006 and features gameplay following Rico Rodriguez, the protagonist as he liberates various islands through more and more improbable means. Aside from the main story, you are free to explore the islands as much as you like, where most of this game’s appeal lies. Since the Just Cause series has achieved global fame in the action-adventure genre, we’re going to be checking out some Just Cause statistics to get down to the meat and bones of the series. Of course, if you fancy statistics from broader areas of gaming, we can also tell you how many people play video games in the world.

Just Cause key stats

This section is meant to represent a variety of statistics on the Just Cause series, from total franchise sales to revenue to any other news about the series we can dig up from the Internet. Since this series has been around for a while and there were some issues with the performance of certain games at Square Enix, some of its releases have been turbulent and subject to criticism.

The Just Cause series has sold 15 million copies.

(Source: VG Chartz)

  • The original Just Cause sold 1.1 million copies.
  • Just Cause 2 sold 4.1 million copies.
  • Just Cause 3 sold 2 million copies on PlayStation 4.

Right off the bat, we can see that the Just Cause series has not accumulated as many sales as some of the bigger franchises out there, but that does not mean that the available games haven’t been successful. Even one million sales for a single title is impressive, let alone 15+ million. Of course, the series has quite possibly sold more copies than this in its lifetime, and we can expect more sales as the hype for Just Cause 5 rises.

Just Cause 3 sold 864,000 copies during its first week.

(Source: VG Chartz)

  • 578,758 units were sold for the PlayStation 4.
  • 252,838 units were sold for the Xbox One.
  • 32,306 units were sold for PC.
  • 396,073 units were sold in Europe.
  • 297,124 units were sold in the United States.

Just Cause 3 was a very successful game on release as it totaled quite a few sales with special emphasis on PlayStation and Xbox One sales, with PC sales not being very prominent. Also, we see that a high number of sales were made in Europe.

Just Cause 4 sold 378,056 copies during its first week.

(Source: VG Chartz)

  • 253,575 units were sold for the PlayStation 4.
  • 124,481 units were sold for the Xbox One.
  • 160,031 units were sold in the United States.
  • 136,793 units were sold in Europe.
  • 16,525 units were sold in Japan.

It is apparent that Just Cause 4 performed worse than Just Cause 3, and by about 500,000 copies at that. This is due to many different reasons, and something to consider is that a majority of sales were in the United States while the previous game’s majority of sales were in Europe. Other than that, this was a low point in the series for sure.

Just Cause 4 underperformed in sales.

(Source: DSOG, TweakTown)

  • The game was called a flop at its release on account of various issues.
  • Square Enix claimed that the releases of other AAA titles were also a problem for the performance of their games.
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider was released around the same time as Just Cause 4, and it also noted a weak start in sales.
  • Another reason for the poor performance of the titles could be the rise in digital sales as opposed to physical sales.

A vast majority of the criticism that Just Cause 4 had was because the game could have been considered too large and too confusing to play since some of the liberation sequences easily got too monotonous and tedious to do. Of course, this was not the only reason for the game’s poor performance as the CEO of Square Enix said that they were competing with some of the top AAA games at the time.

Just Cause 5 is reportedly in development.

(Source: GameRant, GiveMeSport)

  • In 2022, Square Enix sold a few of its studios to Embracer Group for $300 million.
  • Tomb Raider and Deus Ex were part of the transaction.
  • Since Just Cause is owned by Avalanche Studios, they will likely continue working on Just Cause 5.
  • The CEO of Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda said that Just Cause remained with Square Enix after the transaction and that no one should expect the game before 2024 or 2025.

Now, this was something that the community was expecting to happen eventually, and rumors have spread around the industry that a new Just Cause game is in development, although no official information has been released. A new Just Cause game could be just the thing for Square Enix as it would give them a chance to improve upon their mistakes with previous games and get a new top title.

Just Cause mobile has been delayed for a second time.

(Source: Touch Arcade)

  • The game was delayed from its original release date in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • From then, it was supposed to be released in 2022, but it was delayed again due to undisclosed reasons.
  • The game is going to be a team-based top-down shooter.

This title has been… problematic for Square Enix as it never seems to grab onto a concrete release date and has been delayed twice so far and additional information has not been posted. A mobile game for the Just Cause series is odd since the series is based on open-world exploration so we’re not quite sure how this is supposed to translate into the mobile format.

Just Cause 4’s grappling hook has over 4 million customization options.

(Source: PCGamesN)

  • The grappling hook is a core item aside from the wingsuit and the parachute.
  • There are so many combinations that no two players can have the same setup for individual playthroughs.
  • Combined with the massive map and what you can do on it, the grappling hook is an essential piece of tech.
  • The developers intended this because they wanted to have each playthrough be a unique experience.

The grappling hook is definitely one of the cornerstones of Just Cause 4’s gameplay, and it’s awesome to see that you have so many possible combinations to make your gameplay varied, fresh, and interesting. This is very important in massive open-world games like Just Cause because mobility is everything.

A Just Cause movie is in development by the creator of John Wick.

(Source: Engadget, The Gamer)

  • The movie was supposed to start shooting in 2020.
  • Derek Kolstad is going to be the producer of the project.
  • Assisting in production will be Constantin’s Robert Kulzer and Adrian Askarieh from Prime Universe Films.
  • Kolstad has stated that the Just Cause movie will take inspiration from James Bond and Indiana Jones.
  • The role of the protagonist hasn’t been cast yet.

Video game adaptations are usually never that good and they tend to be crashing failures, but you can never know today as some outliers improve the standing in the entire situation. Shows like The Last of Us have shown us that video game adaptations can be excellent, so we’re just going to have to wait and see how the Just Cause movie turns out.

The success of Just Cause 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider helped boost Square Enix’s profits in 2016.

(Source: Games Industry)

  • Square Enix’s Digital Entertainment division earned over $936 million.
  • This was attributed to the “solid start” that both games had on the market.
  • During its first month of release, Rise of the Tomb Raider sold over 1 million copies.
  • Square Enix made $1.3 billion in revenue in 2016, which is a 28.5% increase compared to 2015.
  • Around the same time, Square Enix shut down its cloud gaming subsidiary, Shinra Technologies as it was not sustainable.

Here we can see that Square Enix had some success with the releases of Just Cause 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider which pushed their Digital Entertainment division to nearly $1 billion in revenue. Both of the games had good starts on the market and grew in popularity as time went on. Square Enix, in total, made $1.3 billion in revenue that year, and it was a much more successful year than 2015.

Just Cause 2 players spent 26.1 million hours in the game six months after its release.

(Source: Visual.ly)

  • Over 15,000 players have clocked in over 50 hours of playtime, with one player spending 1,100 hours on Panau island.
  • The total combined height of the players’ highest base jumps equals 570.3 million meters.
  • The highest possible base jump performed in the game was 6,800 meters.
  • The highest point in the game is 1,500 meters high.
  • 49% of players died in explosions.
  • 32% of players died from bullets.
  • 16% of players died from impact damage from falling.
  • 2% of players drowned.
  • 1% of players died to miscellaneous means.
  • Players drove over 173.5 million kilometers.
  • The most popular weapon was the sub-machine gun with a 28% pick rate.
  • 85% of players chose to travel by parachute.
  • 403,783 scorpions were killed.
  • 1.5 billion soldiers were killed.
  • Players caused over 1 billion explosions.
  • 9.9 million propaganda vans were destroyed.
  • 13 million dictator statues were destroyed.

And for the final line of stats, we can see that players really enjoyed the time they spent in Just Cause 2, racking up millions of hours of gameplay and billions of kills within the first six months of the game’s release. Other than that, there isn’t much to say, so you can just enjoy the numbers here!

To sum up

Alright, that would be all we have to say about the excellent Just Cause series! This series has left a mark on the gaming industry in the best way despite its turbulence with some of its later releases like Just Cause 4. Nevertheless, the gameplay dynamic of the Just Cause series is awesome and we can’t wait to see what Just Cause 5 has to bring… if it ever gets released, that is. we sincerely hope that you have enjoyed the content we’ve had to present here and that you have learned something new!

Sources

  • “Just Cause (Series)”. VG Chartz, 2018, https://www.vgchartz.com/game/226105/just-cause/?region=All
  • “Just Cause 3 (PS4)”. VG Chartz, 2019, https://www.vgchartz.com/game/84822/just-cause-3/
  • “Just Cause 3 Sells an Estimated 864K First Week at Retail – Sales”. VG Chartz, 2015, https://www.vgchartz.com/article/262600/just-cause-3-sells-an-estimated-864k-first-week-at-retail/
  • “Just Cause 4 Sells an Estimated 378,056 Units First Week at Retail – Sales”. VG Chartz, 2019, https://www.vgchartz.com/article/435332/just-cause-4-sells-an-estimated-378056-units-first-week-at-retail/
  • “Just Cause 4 performed below expectations; “we sold fewer units on launch than we had anticipated”. Dark Side of Gaming, 2019, https://www.dsogaming.com/news/just-cause-4-performed-below-expectations-we-sold-fewer-units-on-launch-than-we-had-anticipated/
  • “Just Cause 4 sales fail, Square Enix blames other AAA titles”. TweakTown, 2019, https://www.tweaktown.com/news/64921/cause-4-sales-fail-square-enix-blames-aaa-titles/index.html
  • “Just Cause 4’s grappling hook has “more than 4 million” customisations”. PCGamesN, 2018, https://www.pcgamesn.com/just-cause-4/just-cause-4-grapple-hook-customisation
  • “Upcoming Just Cause Movie Is Inspired By Indiana Jones And James Bond”. The Gamer, 2021, https://www.thegamer.com/just-cause-movie-james-bond-indianna-jones/?newsletter_popup=1
  • “‘Just Cause’ movie is coming from ‘John Wick’ creator”. Engadget, 2019, https://www.engadget.com/2019-05-22-just-cause-movie-is-coming.html
  • “Six Months of Just Cause 2”. Visually, 2010, https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/entertainment/six-months-just-cause-2
  • “Just Cause and Tomb Raider boost Square Enix profits”. Games Industry, 2016, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/just-cause-and-tomb-raider-boost-square-enix-profits
  • “Just Cause 5: Everything We Know So Far”. Give Me Sport, 2022, https://www.givemesport.com/88020207-just-cause-5-everything-we-know-so-far/#:~:text=The%20CEO%20of%20Square%20Enix,or%20potentially%20even%20in%202024
  • “Just Cause 5 Reportedly in Development”. GameRant, 2022, https://gamerant.com/just-cause-5-development/
  • “‘Just Cause Mobile’ Delayed Again, No Longer Releasing in 2022”. Touch Arcade, 2022, https://toucharcade.com/2022/12/12/just-cause-mobile-release-date-delayed-2023-ios-android-iphone-ipad/
Staff Writer