Xbox has halted development on Contraband to “assess the project’s future,” with a Bloomberg report stating the game has been fully canceled four years after its initial E3 reveal.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier first shared the news on Bluesky, reporting that “Xbox is canceling Contraband, the game announced in 2021 from Avalanche Studios (Just Cause), after four years of silence, according to sources speaking with Bloomberg News.”
Avalanche Studios later confirmed the news officially on its website, stating:
Over recent years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have been working together on Contraband. Active development is currently on hold as we evaluate the project’s next steps. We appreciate the enthusiasm the community has shown since the announcement and will provide an update as soon as possible.
Contraband was first announced for Xbox and PC at E3 2021 with a teaser trailer. Described as a 1970s smuggler’s paradise set in Bayan, no gameplay footage was revealed at the time. Since then, the project remained largely under wraps, with no further updates on its progress. However, it was reported that in 2022, internal disagreements arose over a controversial hire and poor communication, leading to the formation of a union at the studio and efforts to push for a collective bargaining agreement.
Xbox has recently canceled multiple projects following last month’s mass layoffs, which resulted in 9,100 job cuts across Microsoft—including hundreds within its gaming divisions. In the wake of these cuts, titles such as Everwild and Perfect Dark were also canceled.
