Avalanche Studios Officially Ceases Development on Contraband
|
|
Key points
- Avalanche Studios Group announced on Aug. 7 that active development for the title has stopped.
- The title was slated to be published by Xbox Game Studios and was initially announced in 2021.
- Within the statement, Avalanche Studios stated that it is evaluating the project’s future.
Active development for the upcoming title Contraband has stopped. The news was shared via the Avalanche Studios official website in a brief statement. Within the statement, the studio communicated that active development has ceased as Xbox Game Studios and Avalanche Studios reevaluate the project’s future; the statement was published on Aug. 7, 2025.
The developers thanked the community for their excitement and stated that an update with the next steps will be provided as soon as possible.
Prior to the official announcement, Contraband’s trailer had been set to private on Xbox’s YouTube channel, according to a report from GameFiles. This had created speculation that the title’s development was in trouble, speculation that was later officially confirmed.
Contraband was initially announced as an upcoming title in 2021, marketed to be a cooperative open-world heist game. Since its initial reveal, very few updates have been provided. The news of Contraband’s ceased development comes a couple of weeks after Microsoft held widespread layoffs, which resulted in the cancellation of numerous Xbox titles. The layoffs affected 9,000 employees; Perfect Dark Reboot was one of the many titles that were cancelled as a result.
