Contraband, the mysterious open-world game from Just Cause studio, put on ice

Avalanche Studios, the creator of the beloved Just Cause games, has announced that its upcoming open-world game Contraband has been shelved. Initially backed by Xbox Game Studios, there were question marks about whether the project had survived the latest rounds of cuts imposed by Microsoft. Sadly, Avalanche has just confirmed that "active development has now stopped" and is weighing up its options on what to do with Contraband.

Sure, it's great when an open-world game keeps you hooked with expertly crafted exploration or an excellent narrative. But sometimes, unrelenting, action movie-esque carnage is enough to carry you through the end credits and put a smile on your face. That's what the Just Cause series has excelled at, and even though a Just Cause 5 would've shifted some copies, Contraband was an ambitious new IP.

I'd forgive you, though, if you had no idea this game existed, or if it had completely been pushed out of your mind. It was announced with a cinematic, Steely Dan-backed trailer four years ago in 2021, introducing us to its rough-and-ready jungle aesthetic. However, we've seen and heard virtually nothing about it since then. We knew that it would be set in the fictional region of Bayan in the 1970s - a place dubbed a "smugglers paradise" - and that it'd be a co-op experience, but that was pretty much it.

Now, the game is on ice. In a statement on its website, Avalanche says: "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."

With the Xbox cuts impacting both first-party games like Project Blackbird from Zenimax and third-party publishing collaborations like the upcoming game from Doom creator John Romero, the mysteriously silent Contraband felt like a prime target to be axed. Its reveal trailer was also delisted from the official Xbox YouTube page in the wake of the cuts, although other versions of it remain live on other channels. It wasn't clear at the time if this was related, or if a separate issue (potentially over the license for the backing track) was to blame. Now we know.

It's a shame, because Just Cause is a real guilty pleasure of mine, and if Contraband were to mix similar levels of explosive, slightly corny action with a story around smuggling, then that could be a great combination. With at least four years of work already carried out, hopefully the project can find a new backer or be self-published and get over the finish line. However, I'm not massively hopeful.

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