Microsoft faced a series of unfavorable headlines online last week. This was due to a mass layoff within the company that resulted in a significant number of job losses. Layoffs occurred in various sectors of the company, including the Xbox gaming division. While headlines after headlines announced game cancellations and studio layoffs, other headlines raised questions about the state of projects that had been long overdue for attention. One of those games that raised numerous questions about its current state was Contraband.
Contraband was a game we knew little about; it was only briefly mentioned in the past. We know that Avalanche Studios is the team working on the game. For those unaware, this is the team that brought out the Just Cause franchise. They had also previously released Rage 2 in the marketplace back in 2019.
However, since we hadn’t received much marketing material lately about this title, most assumed that it might have been another project canceled. Today, we’re gathering some evidence that the project is still underway. It started with a 2024 financial report that surfaced online thanks to Timur222 on X. The user highlighted that the report indicates development progress on Contraband over the last year.
Meanwhile, in a reply on X, user RevBen showcased that a LinkedIn profile revealed a lead character artist has been taking on work for Contraband since June of this year. Of course, we’re still waiting for official word to confirm that this game is still being developed, with Xbox Game Studios being the team responsible for publishing it.
Again, details are scarce, but from what we understand so far about this game, Contraband is set in the 1970s, offering a co-op heist experience. Meanwhile, we know that the game trailer itself was removed from online platforms, which initially sparked some fan speculation about the game’s status being grim.
