Avalanche Studios, a client of Sweet Baby Inc., announced that it and Xbox Game Studios have stopped active development on its upcoming game Contraband.
In a recent blog post, the company stated, “Over the past several years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband. Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project’s future. We’re thankful for the excitement we’ve seen from the community since we announced and will give an update on what’s next as soon as we can.”
This comes in the wake of the studio laying off nearly 10% of its staff and shutting down its locations in New York and Montreal back in June 2024. They announced at the time, “Since its inception over two decades ago, Avalanche Studios Group has grown to encompass five locations worldwide: Stockholm, New York, Malmö, Liverpool, and Montreal. Today, we regretfully announce the closure of two of those locations: New York and Montreal. This means we’ll be parting ways with around 50 valued friends and colleagues, which represents roughly 9 percent of Avalanchers worldwide.”
The statement continued, “This is an exceptionally difficult decision, but we believe it’s necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company. Our focus is now on supporting all Avalanchers through this challenging time. We’re grateful for the invaluable contributions of those leaving and remain committed to creating incredible gaming experiences for our players.”
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The studio and the game were listed on Sweet Baby Inc.’s website as one its clients. Specifically, the company said it provided “sensitivity reading, character bios, and scriptwriting” for the game.
The game was originally announced back in 2021 with Avalanche describing it as a “co-op smuggler’s paradise.” The company added that the game would put players in the “roles of smugglers exploring the fictional Southeast Asian world of 1970s Bayan.”
Game Director Omar Shakir said at the time, “Contraband is our most ambitious game yet and working closely together with Xbox Games Studios has been a great experience. We can’t wait to share more about the game and the world of Bayan.”
Xbox Game Studios GM of Publishing Pete Wyse added, “We are excited to partner with the talented team at Avalanche Studios for Contraband. Experiencing the emergent, open-world craziness of an Avalanche Studios game together with your friends is something we can’t wait to bring to players.”
What do you make of active development on the game being stopped?
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Good.
I don't wanna play a criminal anyway. That's why I never bothered with the GTA line.
And, anything impacting an SBI project is always good news. Remember, Kim Belair bragged >>BRAGGED<< that she was the one responsible for destroying the gaming industry.
This was all deliberate, and worse: paid for by your tax dollars (USAID and NGOs).
I guess this is a silver lining of Microsoft going from an entertainment company to an AI one. Romero Games was similarly affected and I know Daikatana was rightly maligned, but I wanted to see one of the OG Doom and Quake 1 designers get a second chance to make a good first person shooter.