What’s the deal with Contraband, the Xbox-published co-op game coming from Just Cause and Rage 2 developer Avalanche Studios? The project was announced back in 2021, and that’s about all we’ve heard about it. That said, with a big Xbox Games Showcase coming up, and old rumors that Contraband may be targeting 2024, some have got their hopes up that we may see the game soon.
Well, you may want to cool your jets. On the most recent episode of Colt Eastwood’s Xbox News Cast, one of the hosts Magg said Contraband isn’t coming until “well into” 2025 as the game is still in a rough state.
“I’ve been told it’s been delayed. It’s going to be delayed well into 2025, could be the end of 2025. But, the people that I know, the footage that I saw, the people that played the game and sent me all their […] impromptu reviews of what they played, they said the game is fun, it was great. It was a very early build. […] Like, the cars didn’t have drivers in them, you couldn’t see their heads, it was literally ghost cars driving around.”
Now, this Magg doesn’t necessarily have much of a leaking track record, but during the podcast, The Verge’s Tom Warren, who does have a long, reliable track record, popped up in the comments section to confirm “Contraband is a ways off, for sure.”
Of course, take this all with a grain of salt for now, but it sounds like Contraband is not something Xbox is preparing to launch in the immediate future. In related news, Avalanche recently announced the closure of two North American studios located in New York and Montreal, resulting in around 50 layoffs (that represents around a 10th of their total workforce). This leaves Avalanche with three main European studios located in Stockholm, Liverpool, and Malmo, Sweeden. Whether this downsizing has anything to do with the somewhat slow progress being made on Contraband is unknown.
Contraband is currently slated to release on PC and Xbox Series X/S. An official launch window has not been announced.
