Schreyer: Xbox canceled the development of Contraband from Avalanche Studios

Addition from 20:40 Moscow time: Avalanche Studios confirmed production stop in a separate message on her website. The developers argue that this is not the final cancellation, but only freezing, although the future of the project is in question:

Over the past few years Avalanche Studios Group And Xbox Game Studios Publishing They worked together on Contraband. Active development has been stopped while we evaluate the prospects of the project. We are grateful to the community for the inspiration that we have observed since the announcement. We will inform us of further plans as soon as possible.

Avalanche Studios

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In the summer of 2021 at the presentation Xbox And Bethesda Developers from Avalanche Studios announced the game-service Contraband, which over the past four years has not overgrown with official details. Last month, the project showed signs of life thanks to new vacancies in the studio, but it seems that the leadership of the game unit Microsoft decided to shut off his air.

The abolition of the project was announced by an authoritative journalist Jason Schreyer (Jason Schreier) in a small post on Bluesky with reference to its sources. From the representative Microsoft Schreyer also received a short comment regarding OD – a joint game Xbox And Kojima Productions. According to the information received, this title is still in production.

As for Contraband, then to this day the game has only an announcing trailer, which, by the way, has already been removed from the official YouTube channel Xbox, which in turn indirectly confirms the information Shreyer. Apparently, the abolition of the project occurred against the background of another restructuring Microsoft To reduce costs, during which the restart of Perfect Dark was also closed with the studio The Initiative.

With the announcement Contraband The game director himself Omar Shakir (Omar Shakir) positioned it as "the most ambitious and spectacular project in the history of the studio". The game was created on the APEX Engine engine and was described as a “cooperative paradise for smugglers” in the setting of a fictional region in Southeast Asia of the 70s model.