The ongoing changes at Microsoft have once again hurt its gaming division, and it looks like Contraband is the latest victim. This highly anticipated game from Avalanche Studios, who are known for the exciting and explosive Just Cause series, was going to be a co-op open-world adventure published by Xbox Game Studios.
The first reveal at E3 2021, which included a short, atmospheric trailer, got a lot of people in the gaming community very excited, but there have been few updates on the project’s progress since then. The future of Contraband is looking less and less certain.
Avalanche Studios recently posted a sad update about the game’s status on its official website: “Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project’s future.”
The statement went on to thank the community for their excitement and say that they would give more information “as soon as we can.” Microsoft and its gaming properties have been going through a rougher, more chaotic time lately.
Microsoft started a series of massive job cuts earlier this year. In May, they cut 7,000 jobs, which is about 3% of their global workforce. Then, later in the summer, they cut another 9,000 jobs.
Microsoft is still streamlining its operations, and the gaming industry has been hit the hardest by these changes. Because of this, many well-known studios and projects have closed down. Besides Contraband, some other well-known projects that have been canceled or put on hold are
- Everwild from Rare
- The Perfect Dark reboot from The Initiative
- Warcraft Rumble from Blizzard Entertainment
- Blackbird from Zenimax
- An unnamed FPS title from Romero Games
The effect has also been very strong at the studio level, where a number of developers who work for Xbox are losing their jobs. Some studios, like The Initiative, have been completely closed down, which shows how serious these corporate restructuring efforts are.
The possible end of Contraband is a stark reminder of how things are in the gaming industry right now: even promising projects from well-known developers are not safe from bigger business decisions.
