Xbox might have simply misplaced one other sport it had in growth. Microsoft and Avalanche Studios (not the Hogwarts Legacy developer) introduced in 2021 that they had been collaborating for an Xbox unique cooperative sport involving a smuggling expertise. Dubbed Contraband, the title didn’t obtain a lot data exterior of that unique reveal with a cinematic trailer. Nevertheless, the newest spherical of Microsoft layoffs and mission cancelations seems to be to have hit this mission too.

Studies of Contraband‘s growth being halted, or outright cancelled, arrived earlier right this moment from each Sport File and Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. Simply a few hours later, an official announcement landed from the event studio.

“Over the previous a number of years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Sport Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband,” the assertion revealed on the studio web site reads. “Energetic growth has now stopped whereas we consider the mission’s future. We’re grateful for the joy we’ve seen from the neighborhood since we introduced and can give an replace on what’s subsequent as quickly as we are able to.”

Whereas it does not appear to be the mission has been outright cancelled, it seems to be like which may be within the playing cards if the heads at publishing and studio cannot discover a technique to resume growth. It is unclear at what stage of growth the sport is at both.

The Simply Trigger sequence developer was utilizing its personal Apex Engine for the event of this thriller co-op mission too. “We constructed the engine to unlock the creativity of our builders and we’re excited to take full benefit of the distinctive capabilities of Xbox Collection X|S,” mentioned sport director Omar Shakir again in 2021.

Later in 2022, it was additionally revealed that this “co-op smuggling” title would come with vehicular fight of some sort. Avalanche Studios additionally had a big spherical of layoffs in 2024, shutting down two of its places and dropping 50 employees.

If Contraband does find yourself being cancelled outright, it is going to be a part of the three different Xbox video games that had been cancelled earlier this yr: Good Darkish, Everwild, and an MMORPG mission from Zenimax On-line.