During earlier years of the franchise, it was long assumed that the Far Cry series featured several standalone titles, unconnected to one another in events or universes.
However, with more recent additions to the series, it was shown that the series is tied together by a single tragic event, and looking at the timeline of each installment surrounding it could answer the question of what year Far Cry 6 is set in.
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Far Cry Primal is the earliest setting in the franchise by a marginal gap. It offers a unique experience to gamers, setting itself in approximately 10,000 BC after the last Ice Age. Likewise, it features a different set of wildlife such as mammoths, dire wolves, and sabertooth tigers, as well as weaponry such as spears. Despite the dramatic change in setting, it still follows the same format as other Far Cry games with the protagonist leading a group to rise in power. Primal is one of the more far removed games from the timeline in terms of relevance; however, a major theme throughout the game is surviving extinction, which serves as foreshadowing to major events later in the series.
Following the very first installment, each main-series title has been set in the same year as the games’ release. Far Cry 2 is set in 2008, following the story of a completely new set of characters, separate from its predecessor, although Ubisoft had originally marketed FC2 to be a direct sequel. Far Cry 3 is set on Rook Islands in 2012, following Jason Brody leading the revolution against Vaas, his pirates, and the slave trader Hoyt Volker. Two years later, the events of Far Cry 4 (and all of its DLC) take place, but the country of Kyrat doesn’t improve much after its government is overthrown. These three titles seemingly have no major significant ties to the main catastrophe other than being on the same timeline.
But Far Cry 5 is where the series takes a major narrative turn, due to its canon ending. Many more casual Far Cry fans may not recognize that the series actually ties together on the same timeline, leading up to an important event known as The Collapse. Far Cry 5‘s setting is different from earlier installments of the main games; instead of being set on an island or tropical location of some kind, it’s set in the fictional Hope County, Montana. It broaches the subject of dangerous and lunatic religious cults, but while it may seem simply like a creative idea for a plot, this was seemingly written intentionally to facilitate the gap between Far Cry and Far Cry 5.
The violent religious cult known as Eden’s Gate is headed by Joseph Seed, who believed he was given a vision by God that the Earth would someday burn due to mankind’s corruption, and felt it was his duty to form the doomsday cult project at Eden’s Gate. They gathered land and followers by force and built bunkers to prepare for the apocalypse. This is actually teased throughout Far Cry 5, as the player can hear radio broadcasts detailing the worsening relationships between global superpowers, particularly the United States, North Korea, and the Middle East, and vicious terrorist attacks around the globe.
The Collapse took place sometime in late September 2018 after the first nuclear attack occurred, landing in another part of Montana. In response, every nuclear power in the world released their arsenals, completely or mostly wiping out entire countries, resulting in near-global destruction. A bomb also fell on Hope County, Montana, and Joseph Seed saw this as a fulfillment of his prophecy.
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Much of Hope County, Montana was destroyed and its residents killed. For a while, it existed only as catastrophic aftermath of the nuclear war. Some survived, however, and built settlements. One was a small town known as Prosperity, on the ruins of John Seed’s ranch. Another was known as New Eden, lead by the survivors of Eden’s Gate and Joseph Seed.
But before the reprisal of Hope County to the Far Cry series is the very first title that began the saga, the first Far Cry. Unbeknownst to many at the time of its release, Far Cry is set in the year 2025, taking place after the events of The Collapse, which left the world in ruins. This is due to it and all of its direct sequels (Instincts, Predator, Evolution, and Vengeance) being set on obscure or uncharted islands, with little indication of its timeframe.
Set in the post-apocalyptic universe seventeen years after the fallout is Far Cry: New Dawn, centered around the settlements in leftover Hope County. In the year 2035, players assume the role of a security captain and help the survivors in Hope County fight back against the Highwaymen. Joseph Seed plays an important role in the story; after voluntarily leaving the cult and surviving the bombing, he eventually assists the Captain by committing New Eden’s forces against the Highwaymen. The Deputy (the protagonist from Far Cry 5 who fell under Joseph Seed’s rule in the canon ending) is now known as the Judge, brainwashed and wracked with guilt from the nuclear war.
Then, there’s Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which some consider being the most unique installment of the series. It’s a standalone tale again set in unnamed islands; however, it’s set in an alternate timeline in the year 2007, where the world is suffering the aftermath of a nuclear world. Blood Dragon is loved by fans for its throwback to 1980s action movies, making many references to pop culture from that era. Whether the game was a simple tongue-in-cheek love letter to 80s violence or was another precursor to the tragedy that would befall the ending of FC5 is unknown, but the dystopian setting is a bit on the nose for having released five years prior.
So where does Far Cry 6 fit into the timeline? If it were to follow the same format as its predecessors of the main series, the second trough the fifth installments, FC6 should take place the same year of its release, 2021. The game is inspired by modern-day Cuba, according to Navid Khavari, the Narrative Director of FC6, and he visited the country when doing research and developing the game. In an interview with Game Rant in July 2020, Khavari commented on a previous description of Yara as a location “frozen in time,” saying it will pull visual aesthetic from the 50s and 60s, but will still be set in present-day.
But whether or not it will involve the post-apocalyptic world destroyed by The Collapse is still unknown. Khavari didn’t expand on the phrase “present-day,” meaning there’s a likely chance it could not be set in the year 2021, following the nuclear fallout. However, in screens and trailers from Far Cry 6, it clearly shows fully intact buildings and vehicles, possibly hinting at one of three options. Firstly, the island of Yara could’ve been partially unaffected by the bombings, though this is unlikely. Being set prior to September 2018 or even in a completely different timeline, however, is a more likely possibility, and points more closely to the direction of Far Cry 6 being a prequel to Far Cry 3, even if it’s just by going back in time.
Ultimately, Far Cry 6′s spot on the timeline depends on how it handles the Collapse. It could ignore the canon ending, setting the game in 2021 to no consequence. It could be set in 2021 but has to deal with the global effect of the Collapse, assuming that Yara somehow walked away unscathed. Or it could occur sooner as a prequel in the series, which as aforementioned, seems the most logical. It remains to be seen, of course, but hype for FC6 is undeniable nonetheless.
Far Cry 6 releases on February 18, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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