Contraband Game Canceled — Xbox Faces Another Setback Amid Industry Cuts

Another Xbox game seems to be disappearing, with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier initially reporting on Thursday via Bluesky that Contraband is being canceled. This was quickly followed by an official statement from the developers, which confirmed that work on the project was ceasing.

"Active development has stopped while we evaluate the project's future. We're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community and will give an update on what's next as soon as we can," the statement says.

Sources tell Windows Central that "production is on hold," adding that there are no additional layoffs on the Xbox team coming as part of this decision.

Contraband was first announced all the way back during Xbox Games Showcase 2021, with a CGI trailer set to Steely Dan's "Do It Again" that showed a frozen moment in time, with a criminal crew prepping for a heist.

Notably, Contraband has not been seen since that initial reveal, with no gameplay or follow-up trailers ever showing up at different events. That trailer was also delisted in recent months, and at the time, it wasn't clear if the disappearance was due to the song license expiring or an indication of the project's status.

Contraband was set in the "fictional world of 1970s Bayan," described as a "co-op smuggler's paradise."

The game was being developed by Avalanche Studios, the studio group behind open-world titles like the Just Cause franchise.

Contraband was being published under the Xbox Game Studios Publishing umbrella, the same team that is working with Koei Tecmo and PlatinumGames on the upcoming Ninja Gaiden 4, as well as Kojima Productions with the experimental horror title OD.

The publishing team is also working with Stoic on the action-RPG brawler Towerborne, which launched into early access on Xbox consoles earlier in the year after arriving on PC via Steam last year.

Disappointing, but not exactly surprising

When Microsoft recently held another round of layoffs in July, cutting into various teams across the Xbox division, a few games were canceled.

These game cancelations included The Initiative's Perfect Dark (with the studio being shut down as a result) as well as Rare's Everwild (which was announced back in 2019) and a new MMORPG from ZeniMax Online Studios.

A publishing deal with Romero Games was also reportedly impacted, with the studio's position thrown into jeopardy following the cuts.

At the time all of these cuts and the repercussions were unfolding, I was honestly surprised to see that Contraband wasn't part of the titles being canceled, as the game hadn't been seen in years.

Now, it appears the decision may have just taken a bit of additional time. Given the language used in Avalanche's statement, it's possible the team could be looking for a new publisher, though in the current industry environment, I'm not sure what that would look like.

The layoffs have wrought havoc at Xbox, with confusion and frustration among staff. Sources tell Windows Central that morale at ZeniMax is "rancid," with many talented and needed quality assurance testers being cut as part of the layoffs.

Importantly, the layoffs weren't limited to Xbox, with around 9,000 employees in total being let go and reports indicating that many of the cuts were done in order to further the company's investment in generative AI.