Summary
The upcoming Xbox console exclusive titleContrabandwon’t be coming out anytime soon, according to an industry insider. Avalanche Studios, in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, is developingContraband, a first-person heist title first revealed during Microsoft’s conference at E3 2021.
For the past three years, fans have been eager for any update on the project following its reveal via a cryptic CG teaser trailer. No concrete release window or gameplay footage has been shared with the community just yet, though the studio has shared thatContrabandwill be a co-op adventure set in the 1970s that is being built on the next generation of the Apex Engine, the tech used to power the ever-popularJust Causegames. In January, it was teased thatthe game would support 8-player co-opand would focus on vehicular combat.
According to MAGG, the co-host of the Xbox Infinite podcast,Contrabandhas been internally delayed well into 2025. Although this hasn’t been officially confirmed by Avalanche Studios, Tom Warren from The Verge chimed in during the new episode to corroborate MAGG’s claim thatContrabandis still a ways off. It’s looking unlikely that the title will appear during the upcoming Xbox Showcase on June 9.
Contraband Might Now Be Looking at a Late 2025 Release
News of the game’s delay comes days after it was announced that Avalanche Studios Group had shuttered two offices andlaid off around 50 people, accounting for 9% of the company’s workforce. Both the New York and Montreal studios were shut down, with Avalanche claiming that extreme measures were necessary to maintain the sustainability of the company as a whole.
The Swedish company’s most recent games—Just Cause 4andRage 2—didn’t sell particularly well when compared to previous titles and garnered mixed reviews from players. Avalanche’s smaller titles, such asRavenboundandCall of the Wild: The Angler, also failed to resonate with the community, which may have led to this unfortunate outcome. Over 10,000 people have been laid off in the video game industry this year.
Avalanche Studios Group unionized in 2023, following in the footsteps of other game industry giants like Sega of America and Raven Software. Over 100 developers joined the Swedish trade union Unionen, accounting for 20% of the company’s total workers. Despite player demand,Contrabandmay not appear for some time while those left at the studio deal with the recent fallout.
