Here’s the low‑down: Microsoft (Xbox) has officially halted development on Contraband — effectively cancelling it after four years of silence since its reveal at E3/Xbox & Bethesda Showcase in June 2021. Avalanche Studios, the team behind Just Cause, confirmed on 7 August 2025 that "active development has stopped while we evaluate the project’s future"
What was Contraband?
- A co‑op, open‑world action‑adventure game set in a fictional 1970s smuggler’s paradise, called Bayan
- Developed by Avalanche Studios using their in‑house Apex Engine, and set to be published by Xbox Game Studios, exclusive to Xbox Series X/S and Windows (with a planned day‑one Game Pass launch)
Why did it get cancelled now?
- After its reveal in 2021, the game went dark. No updates, no gameplay. Just a cinematic trailer
- Microsoft’s gaming division recently cut 9,000 jobs (around 4% of its workforce), cancelled several other ambitious projects (Everwild, Perfect Dark, Project Blackbird, among others), and scaled back its publishing team (
- In Avalanche’s own words: development has paused as they determine whether the project is worth moving forward
What the media is saying
- Game File notes the cancellation amidst “Xbox publishing cutbacks,” and highlights that the Cinematic trailer had recently been privated on YouTube (Game File).
- Polygon frames the decision as part of a broader pattern — another Xbox exclusive shelved like Everwild and Perfect Dark (Polygon).
- Meristation paints 2025 as a particularly rough year for Xbox, outlining the layoffs, cancellations, and uncertainty — though it confirms OD (Kojima’s game) is still active (Diario AS).
