Summary
Ubisoft’s open-world FPS franchise,Far Cry, has given fans a number of memorable experiences over the course of its history. Starting with the original title all the way back in 2004,Far Crywent on to become one of the most well-known and long-running series within the genre, setting industry trends that would be both heavily emulated and eventually experiencing a bit of backlash for their ubiquity in the time since conception. Still,Far Cryhas remained one of the studio’s biggest staples, and is very likely to be so in the future.
While manyFar Crygames share some broad connections, and in cases even specific characters, a number of other aspects regarding their explicit relationships have never really been fully outlined. Due to this, and what information is either contained in each title, has come to light, or been touched on by various developers, sometimes only makes things cloudier. One of these bigger points is how, or even whether,Far Cry 6is distinctly related to the events of the third title, and the debate around this continues to be a source of fan analysis and theorizing.
Far Cry 7has been heavily rumored, but Ubisoft has yet to officially confirm or elaborate on it so far.
The Debate Over Whether Far Cry 6 is Truly a Sequel to FC3, Explained
Far Cry’s Overall Connectivity Is Looser Than it Appears
Though it seems on the surface there should be an easily drawn sequential line betweeneachFar Crytitle, looking a little deeper reveals many of the connections to be not as well-defined, and some are in question as to the validity of their relevance. Drawing from initial information and clues found throughout releases helps place some in a relative relationship, though these can also be tenuous in some cases. Generally, each title is stated to be contemporary to the year of its release, meaning, for example,Far Cry 3is set in 2012. Taking fromFar Cry 6’s in-game information like Dani Rojas' license places it in its own release year of 2021. On paper, this makes it a clear-cut case, but as below, the line is actually much blurrier.
Narrative director Navid Khavari participated in a Reddit AMA session in 2021 forFar Cry 6where the topic of an overall timeline was posed. There, Khavari stated that it was entirely separate from the events ofFar Cry 5, and in the process implied this could be retroactively true of other previous titles, making them self-contained stories and even universes. While there have been myriad smaller inclusions andEaster eggs inFar Crytitles, they usually served as audience winks and nods, often amounting more to fan service than substantially cementing connections. The broad consensus, and possibly backed up further by this official word, is thatFar Crythus plays fairly fast and loose with its canon, and many items may only be tangential or akin to variant versions between entries.
Far Cry 6’s Status As a FC3 Sequel Remains Unclear
The discussion around the two titles' relation to each other centers on apost-credits scene that seemed to connectFar Cry 6toFC3via a conversation between Juan Cortez and an unseen smuggler. The key being that the smuggler is voiced by Michael Mando, who famously portrayedFar Cry 3’s iconic Vaas Montengero. If going by the above timeline, though, Vaas was ostensibly killed inFC3, and thus shouldn’t be around at all for this interaction. Some fans took this to mean Vaas actually survived, while others posited that it was an alternate reality, split off from any prior canon. If the description of each game existing within its own bubble is true, this would allow for such an encounter, although by nature making a firm timeline for the series much harder to pin down.
In the wake of the above, fans have had lively discussions pointing out possibilities and explanations, some of which suggest that, indeed, everyFar Crygame actually takes place in its own separate reality. While they might share certain references or reoccurring elements, they are not necessarily all directly within the same universe. This approach certainly has its positives and negatives. However, it does technically allow Ubisoft to pick and choose among them (likeHurk appearing in multiple titles) without stepping on its own toes too much. As it stands, the answers provided by developers alongside the scene inFar Cry 6and what it means about its relation toFC3could be taken a few ways. And without fully committing one way or another, leaves the door open to a variety of potential interpretations that could apply to future games as well.
