Avalanche Studios Group Liverpool officially shut down

Avalanche Studios Group officially shut down its Liverpool studio after having initiated a collective consultation process regarding the closure of the studio earlier in the fall. The process has concluded, resulting in 31 employees being terminated. Avalanche Studios Group stated that its focus remains on supporting the Avalanchers through this transition and to carry on making games for its player communities. 

In a public statement, Avalanche stated that the layoffs and closure of the Liverpool studio were a difficult conclusion, made to “ensure Avalanche Studios Group’s long-term success.” The reduction in the other studios was made to “restructure the teams to address [their] games’ needs.” 

The Liverpool studio opened in 2020, and primarily worked on on release title: Call of the Wild: The Angler. The studio was initially set up to develop this open-world fishing game, but the Liverpool studio also contributed to other ongoing and future projects, reportedly having been involved in the development of Contraband before the project was canceled. Contraband was supposed to be developed by Avalanche, having initially been marketed in 2021 as a cooperative open-world heist game. Since its initial reveal, very few updates have been provided.