After shelving Uncommon’s Everwild, The Initiative’s Excellent Darkish and Zenimax’s Challenge Blackbird, Microsoft has seemingly pulled the plug on Contraband, Avalanche Studios’ co-op action-adventure.
On its web site, the developer formally confirmed that “lively improvement has now stopped whereas we consider the undertaking’s future” and that it “will give an replace on what’s subsequent as quickly as we are able to.” Its reveal trailer has additionally been privated.
Contraband was first introduced in 2021 as an open-world co-op title set in Nineteen Seventies Bayan, a fictional smuggler’s paradise, and had over 150 builders on it. It hasn’t obtained any information, updates and even gameplay since, and improvement troubles have been reported final yr. Avalanche would go on to chop 50 jobs and shut down two studios shortly after.
This shift arrives within the wake of mass layoffs, which severely impacted Microsoft’s Gaming division. The Initiative shut down whereas Undead Labs, Flip 10 Studios, and plenty of extra suffered cuts.
Amid all that is Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealing plans to broaden much more into AI. The corporate shaped a strategic partnership with OpenAI earlier this yr, however has been investing billions into the corporate since 2019. Keep tuned for updates and different developments on Contraband’s standing within the meantime.
