Microsoft’s wave of game cancellations continues today with the news that Just Cause developer Avalanche’s day-one Game Pass release Contraband has been cancelled. Citing sources, this was first confirmed by reporter Jason Schreier. The game was planned for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
Game File’s Stephen Totilo, meanwhile, said Avalanche has “stopped active development” on Contraband but didn’t use the word “cancel.” The report said the game is now “on hold,” citing a source that said the project was in the works for five years.
Announced in 2021, Contraband was described as a “co-op smuggler’s paradise” set in a fictional world in the ’70s. The announcement trailer used Steely Dan’s “Do It Again,” which debuted in the early ’70s.
There continues to be open positions posted on the company’s website for Contraband, but it’s possible they will be removed in due time. The same could be true for the official Contraband pages on Xbox.com and Avalanche’s website that are still live.
The reported cancellation of Contraband comes not long after Microsoft laid off 9,000 people, including cuts to Xbox that led the other game cancellations and at least one studio closure. At the time, it was reported that Microsoft was executing a portfolio review, with some games not going forward or losing funding. Schreier said today, August 7, that Hideo Kojima’s new game, OD, remains in development.
Other games that got canceled recently at Xbox include Rare’s Everwild, the Perfect Dark reboot (which also saw its studio shutter), and reportedly a new MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios.
Microsoft made these dramatic cuts even as its business was booming, a fact that CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged and said was due to the “enigma of success.” The cuts came at a time when Microsoft invests heavily in AI, with the company recently pledging $120 billion, up from $80 billion, to AI spending.
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