Just Cause 3

Just Cause 3

Developers
	Avalanche Studios
Publishers
	Square Enix
Engines
	Avalanche Engine 3.0
Release dates
Windows	December 1, 2015
Reception
Metacritic	74
OpenCritic	75
IGDB	76
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Open world, TPS
Sports	Parachuting
Vehicles	Flight, Motorcycle, Automobile, Naval/watercraft, Tank, Robot
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Just Cause

Just Cause
Just Cause	2006
Just Cause 2	2010
Just Cause 3	2015
Just Cause 4	2018

Just Cause 3 is a singleplayer third-person open world and TPS game in the Just Cause series.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		5 DVDs, EU only
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		XXL Edition also available.
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Amazon.co.uk

All versions require Steam DRM.

Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM was removed on December 17, 2025.

Version differences

The XXL Edition includes the base game and all DLC.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Air, Land & Sea Expansion Pass
Bavarium Sea Heist
Capstone Bloodhound RPG
Combat Buggy
Explosive Weapon Pack
Final Argument Sniper Rifle
Firestarter Customization Skins
Kousavá Rifle
Mini-Gun Racing Boat
Mech Land Assault
Rocket Launcher Sports Car
Reaper Missile Mech
Sky Fortress
Weaponized Vehicle Pack

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use no-intro mod
Download the No-Intro Mod. Extract the dropzone folder with its contents into <path-to-game>. Run the game with the following command line arguments: --vfs-fs dropzone --vfs-archive patch_win64 --vfs-archive archives_win64 --vfs-fs

Using Steam's Launch Options (with DLC Support)
Open <path-to-game>. Create a new folder called dropzone in the directory. Create a new folder in dropzone called videos. Create an empty text file in the videos folder and rename it to corona_video.bikc. Run the game with the following command line arguments: --vfs-fs dropzone --vfs-archive patch_win64 --vfs-archive archives_win64 --vfs-archive dlc_win64 --vfs-fs.

Reduce load times

At startup, the game spends quite some time connecting to Square Enix servers.

Using the following workaround will disable online features such as leaderboards.

Prevent game from connecting with online servers
Block the executable file justcause3.exe from connecting to the Internet in the firewall settings. Alternatively add folowing lines into your hosts file: 127.0.0.1 bluewhale.os.eidos.com ::1 bluewhale.os.eidos.com Once the game opens, select "Play In Offline Mode".

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Square Enix\Just Cause 3\Saves\0\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/225540/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Square Enix\Just Cause 3\Saves\<user-id>\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/225540/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud		Added on 18 December 2025.

Video

In-game video settings.

In-game gameplay settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		Placing waypoints on the map is broken on ultrawide resolutions.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Use JC3FOVFixer for up to 90° vertical (see FOV Calculator for help). Also affects cutscenes, which may cause visual glitches, e.g., character pop-in.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use /borderless /windowed in Steam Launch Options.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16x.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA, SMAA, SMAA_T2X (SMAA_T2X appears to cause blurriness and a ghosting-like effect when motion blur is turned off. Turning motion blur on appears to fix this.) The quality of the FXAA/SMAA can be improved with Luma. This mod also add the DLAA.
High-fidelity upscaling		DLSS 4.5, FSR 3 DLSS and FSR support can be added with Luma.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)		HDR experience can be improved using: Luma See Luma for HDR.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		The key prompts display the default key bindings even if you change them to something else.
Mouse sensitivity		Global setting for Mouse and Gamepad
Mouse acceleration		Enabled by default. If using an adjustable DPI mouse, disable this by setting the in game sensitivity slider to zero, then increase mouse DPI to compensate.
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput controllers only. Games causes Xbox One controller to de-sync from wireless dongle.[citation needed]
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See Controller remapping.
Controller sensitivity		Global setting for Mouse and Gamepad
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger support

DirectInput-compatible controllers

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Rapidly changes button prompts

Controller remapping

Change controller mapping
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open kepmap.txt [sic] with a text editor. Edit "key" values to desired settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, Voice and Music.
Surround sound		Verified up to 7.1 surround output.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Game halted when focus is lost.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Latin American Spanish localization is exclusive to the console versions.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan - AI
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
Local play
LAN play		Use Just Cause 3: Multiplayer Mod to host a dedicated server and connect using the local IP of the server.
Online play		Use Just Cause 3: Multiplayer Mod.

3D/VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Native 3D		Dual-View Rendering Use Geo-11 for Side-by-Side, Top-and-Bottom, Interleaved and Anyglyph. Or Geo-11 with 3D Game Bridge GUI for Eye-Tracked Lightfield displays.
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Geo-11.
vorpX		Single-View Depth Reprojection (Z3D) Officially supported game. Note: Game is currently not on official list, but listed on vorpx local profile factory list.

Issues fixed

Resolution change causes the game to crash

Changing the resolution of the game from the in-game settings menu might cause the game to crash.^{[citation needed]}

Manually edit the configuration file

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open Settings.json using a text editor. Adjust lines 2 and 3 to your desired resolution "DisplayFullscreenWidth": 1920 "DisplayFullscreenHeight": 1080 The game will now correctly run at your desired resolution without crashing.. Notes Changing your resolution to anything higher than 1080p causes sub menu items to display in the wrong position on screen, but with no effect on functionality. The provided samples are the default settings for the settings file.

Lock-on missiles not working

If using mouse and keyboard, lock-on missiles in vehicles might not work. Bug unpatched since launch.^{[citation needed]}

Disable 'precision aim' Gear MOD and restart the game.
Go to the Gear MOD menu for weapons. Disable the Precision Aim MOD. Restart the game.

Use an XInput controller.
Plug in or connect an XInput controller Start Steam Big Picture Launch Just Cause 3

Stuttering observed when using a controller with Steam

If using a controller with Steam, stuttering might be observed.

Disable Steam Controller Input for the game
Go to the game's properties in Steam Go to the controller section. Disable Steam Input. Grapple hook on the Rico's hand reverts to the old one Some players may experience a bug, that replaces the new grapple hook, that was given to the Rico by Dimah with the old one from Just Cause 2. Use Grapple Fix

Other information

Steam Launch Options

There are several Configuration Parameters that can be set using Steam's "Set Launch Option" feature to help optimize the game even further.

Launch Option parameter	Description	Accepted variables
/failSafe	Run in failsafe mode (ignore settings)
/fullscreen	Force fullscreen mode
/windowed	Force windowed mode
/borderless	Force bordlerless mode
/width=N	Change resolution width
/height=N	Change resolution height
/widthFS=N	Change resolution width (fullscreen only)
/heightFS=N	Change resolution height (fullscreen only)
/widthW=N	Change resolution width (windowed only)
/heightW=N	Change resolution height (windowed only)
/refreshrate=N	Change the refresh rate
/vsync=B	Enable/disable V-sync
/dxadapter=N	Use DirectX adapter at specified index
/aniso=n	Anisotropic filter	(0-7, default: 7)
/shadows=N	Shadow quality	(0-2, default: 1)
/shadowres=N	Shadow resolution	0-1, default: 0
/ssao=B	Enable/disable SSAO	Default: Disabled
/posteffects=B	Enable/disable post-processing effects	Default: Enabled
/lodfactor=N	Geometric level of detail	0-3, Default: 0
/edgefade=B	Enable/disable edge fade effect
/watertess=B	Enable/disable water tessellation	Default: Enabled

^{B stands for boolean; Where 1 is equal to "enabled," and 0 is equal to "disabled"}

^{N stands for number; Set to whichever number requested}

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Audio	FMOD Studio
Interface	Scaleform GFx
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.994d

Modifications

Luma HDR mod

An open-source mod that adds HDR support and other fixes.

Adds HDR tonemapping (with improved quality render targets, meaning banding is reduced)

Improves auto exposure, given that it often caused flickering (it wasn't downscaled properly)

Added DLSS Super Resolution (DLAA), the game had very strong shimmer and aliasing

Improves FXAA and SMAA implementations (the edges weren't calculated properly)

Fixes video playback being done in the wrong color space

Allows to disable the anamorphic bloom (it was stretched horizontally)

Fixes Anisotropic Filter 16x still not affecting many surfaces

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Vista SP2		7 SP1, 8.1
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz AMD Phenom II X6 1075T 3.0 GHz		Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	6 GB		8 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	54 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB of VRAM		Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 (3 GB) AMD Radeon R9 290 (4 GB)

A 64-bit operating system is required.