Xbox has finally confirmed what everyone expected: development on Contraband is completely frozen, the game’s future is grim, and after Microsoft’s recent brutal layoffs, the whole industry has been bracing for bad news—especially when Contraband’s trailers quietly vanished from YouTube.

This was only a matter of time: Avalanche Studios has finally admitted that development on Contraband has stopped. The first reports leaked from Stephen Totilo (Game File) and Jason Schreier (Bloomberg), but the studio’s own official post ended four years of radio silence. The game was announced in 2021, but there’s been no real news since.

“Over the past few years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have been collaborating on Contraband,” reads the Avalanche statement (via Wario64 on X). “Active development has paused while we evaluate the future of the project. We’re grateful for the excitement we’ve seen from the community since we announced it, and will share an update on what’s next as soon as we can.”

This announcement surprised no one, as Microsoft recently undertook massive layoffs across several departments. The gaming community quickly spotted that Contraband’s trailers disappeared from the official Xbox YouTube channel—many took this as an omen that the project was doomed.

As mentioned at the start, Contraband was first unveiled in 2021 as “a co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional 1970s Bayan.” Avalanche Studios, best known for Just Cause, got fans hyped for a new open-world action title. But it’s now clear: production has been completely frozen—and, according to Jason Schreier’s sources, the game is fully canceled.

Other Major Xbox Games Fell Victim to Microsoft’s Layoffs

Everything suggests Contraband is just the latest casualty of Microsoft’s recent cost-cutting spree. The tech giant has laid off more than 9,000 employees—including key staff from Xbox studios—and canceled major titles such as Perfect Dark and Everwild. The Initiative studio was also permanently shut down. At the time, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, explained the decision: “Adjusting priorities and focusing resources allows our teams to achieve greater success in an ever-evolving industry landscape.”

Source: 3djuegos