Summary
After nearly four years since its initial reveal, upcoming Xbox console exclusiveContrabandhas received a development update. The long silence surroundingContrabandled manyXboxfans to believe that the game had been quietly canceled, but it appears work on the elusive exclusive continues to chug along.
Back during Xbox’s E3 presentation in June 2021,Just CausedeveloperAvalanche Studios teamed up with Xbox to announceContraband, a co-op smuggler game set in the South America-inspired fictional 1970s world of Bayan, for Xbox Series X/S and PC. In subsequent years, though, Avalanche went radio silent onContraband, and details about the game dried up entirely. No trailers or screenshots ofContrabandhave been released since its reveal, giving rise to speculation that it may have been shelved or slipped into development limbo.
Thankfully, arecent job listing from Avalanchehas confirmed thatContrabandis still in active development. The studio is currently hiring a Senior DevOps Engineer, specifically for the “Contrabandteam.” According to the job listing, the selected candidate will help “streamline pipelines, supercharge CI/CD, and bring innovation to every step of the dev process.” That’s about as official as it gets when it comes toContraband’s proof of life, and while this doesn’t mean another trailer is imminent, it does imply development is still underway, albeit slower or more complex than Avalanche may have originally anticipated.
Contraband is Still in Development, But its Next Appearance Remains a Mystery
As for the game itself, very little is still known. Dubbed a “co-op smuggler’s paradise,“Contrabandpromises an open-world experience with a heavy emphasis on teamwork and heist-style gameplay. It’s meant to be Avalanche’s “most ambitious and spectacular game to date,” and reports have claimed thatvehicular combat may be one ofContraband’s central tenets. Whether the protracted development time is due to the scale of that ambition or complications behind the scenes, though, remains unclear at the time of writing.
Interestingly, Microsoft has confirmed anXbox Games Showcase set to broadcast on June 8, and there is hope among fans thatContrabandmay finally re-emerge at this upcoming presentation. However,Contrabandwasn’t part of a recent rumor alleging some of the games that are part of the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, namelyHollow Knight: Silksong,Gears of War Collection,Minecraft Dungeons 2,Ninja Gaiden 4, and a remake ofPersona 4. Only time will tell if Avalanche might show off its long-running efforts forContrabandin the near future, but for now, the minor development update is an encouraging sign.
