Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: Microsoft has ended 'active development' on Contraband

Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2025 17:53:33 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsof...

The upheaval continues for gaming at Microsoft. The latest victim appears to
be Contraband, a planned release from Avalanche Studios with Xbox Game
Studios as publisher. The co-op open-world game from the studio behind the
entertaining Just Cause series was teased in a brief, mostly atmospheric
trailer at E3 2021. But very little had been heard since about the project,
and it seems the axe is currently hanging pretty precariously above
Contraband.

"Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project's future,"
Avalanche said in a post on its website. "We're thankful for the excitement
we've seen from the community since we announced and will give an update on
what's next as soon as we can."

Microsoft announced in May that it would cut 7,000 jobs, or about 3 percent
of its global workforce. That news was followed by another cut of 9,000
positions later in the summer. Gaming has been hit hard by these changes,
with several studios and planned projects shuttering as Microsoft
consolidates. Here's the rundown of other projects that have been reported to
have ended so far under Microsoft's auspices:

Everwild from Rare

Perfect Dark reboot from The Initiative

Warcraft Rumble from Blizzard Entertainment

Blackbird from Zenimax

An unnamed FPS from Romero Games

Several of the aforementioned studios, and many others under the Xbox
umbrella, have also been hit by the layoffs. Some, like The Initiative, have
been completely shut down.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsof...
on-contraband-175333930.html?src=rss

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