Avalanche Studios’ Contraband Reportedly Canceled by Xbox Players Area

Xbox Sport Studios has reportedly canceled Contraband, the subsequent recreation from Simply Trigger developer Avalanche Studios, following 4 years of silence from each studios relating to the sport.

That is based on Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who reported the cancellation on Bluesky. On condition that we have not heard something about Contraband for 4 years, its cancellation is probably unsurprising, but it surely’s a disgrace nonetheless.

After all, we did not know that a lot about Contraband to start with. When it was introduced in 2021, Avalanche stated the sport, which was to be a “co-op smuggler’s paradise”, can be the studio’s “most bold and spectacular recreation so far”, however past that, not a lot was revealed in regards to the challenge.

Avalanche did say that the sport would make the most of Simply Trigger‘s Apex Engine, and so far as we knew, the sport can be an Xbox Collection X|S unique, though given Xbox’s latest strikes in direction of platform agnosticism, that will not have been the case for lengthy.

Contraband‘s cancellation comes after an enormous wave of Microsoft layoffs that noticed round 9,000 firm workers lose their jobs, in addition to high-profile recreation and studio shutdowns underneath the Xbox model.

These included the cancellation of Uncommon’s Everwild, in addition to the shuttering of The Initiative’s reportedly troubled Excellent Darkish reboot, together with the closure of that studio. So far as we all know, Uncommon stays operational, though it does not have any lively tasks which have been introduced publicly.

In line with what a Microsoft spokesperson informed Schreier, regardless of these high-profile shutdowns, Hideo Kojima’s OD, which can function a collaboration with Xbox Sport Studios, remains to be in improvement (in the meanwhile, at the least).

It is unclear what’s subsequent for Avalanche Studios after the cancellation of Contraband, however in the meanwhile at the least, you will not be visiting the studio’s smuggler’s paradise anytime quickly. Keep tuned for extra on this and all different issues Xbox.