Fourth. Somewhat related to all three above is the modern video game landscape and how accepting it will be to a game of JA's style. Even in '99 JA2 was a niche game in a niche category that, despite glowing reviews sold only ~200 000 copies. Today's video game market is vastly different than the market that JA2 brought it's blend of point and click, action-rpg, and combat strategy to. Would todays players welcome a game like JA2, one that focuses more on gameplay depth and character than pure graphical beauty. How does the JA franchise handle online gaming?

I fear this game may be doomed to disappoint, for a number of reasons:

First. The 1.13 mod has completely changed what players think of when talking about the JA franchise. The shear number of options, features, etc that 1.13 has introduced is simply an incredible mark for a developer to meet. There has been 20 years of a dedicated group of programmers, tweaking, adjusting and adding to the game. No developer has the resources to match that.

Second. The developer needs to meet that high standards set by the Sirtech group in creating the atmosphere of the JA series, and bring that atmosphere into contemporary times. All the little things that sirtech did, the npc's, the Mercs, the sharp satire of the time that the game came out in. Where JA2 did well to dealing with it's time period (communism vs capitalism, fall of the eastern block, the end of the cold war), a modern game would need to deal with the war in Afghanistan, Domestic terrorism, religious issues, etc. Also I'm not sure if our modern sensibilities would welcome a game with JA2's style and irreverence (The only franchise I can think of that pulls this off regularly is GTA). Selling 200 000 will likely not be profitable for the developer.

Third. Time between releases. As it's been 20 years since series releases and given the history of this property I suspect the expectations of the fan base may be extreme. Also given the time that has passed how many players have moved on from video gaming in general (for any number reasons)_and those who came to the series recently how many are on the 1.13 version of the game/series vs vanilla (see point 1 above)

Fourth. Somewhat related to all three above is the modern video game landscape and how accepting it will be to a game of JA's style. Even in '99 JA2 was a niche game in a niche category that, despite glowing reviews sold only ~200 000 copies. Today's video game market is vastly different than the market that JA2 brought it's blend of point and click, action-rpg, and combat strategy to. Would todays players welcome a game like JA2, one that focuses more on gameplay depth and character than pure graphical beauty. How does the JA franchise handle online gaming?

Sure the developer might take notes from the 1.13 mod and include some of the best features from the mod in the game. Might live up to the standard set by Sirtech by introducing new NPC's, Mercs, and updating the game world to bring the series into the modern times. Might attract a new generation of players who find the game as enthralling as we all did 20+ years ago, and might be able to do all that while drawing in players from the mainstream