Xbox Exclusive Title Announced in 2021 Gets Surprising Update

Summary

A recent job listing has confirmed that Avalanche Studios’ upcoming Xbox console exclusive, Contraband, is still in active development.
Contraband was first announced in 2021, but Avalanche has released no new information about the game since then, leading many to believe it was quietly shelved.
There is hope that the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase on June 8 might provide more information about Contraband.

After nearly four years since its initial reveal, upcoming Xbox console exclusive Contraband has received a development update. The long silence surrounding Contraband led many Xbox fans 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 Cause developer Avalanche Studios teamed up with Xbox to announce Contraband, 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 on Contraband, and details about the game dried up entirely. No trailers or screenshots of Contraband have been released since its reveal, giving rise to speculation that it may have been shelved or slipped into development limbo.

Rumor: 5 Games Leaked for Xbox Games Showcase

According to the latest rumors, gamers may be able to expect to see these five games at the next Xbox Games Showcase.

Thankfully, a recent job listing from Avalanche has confirmed that Contraband is still in active development. The studio is currently hiring a Senior DevOps Engineer, specifically for the “Contraband team.” 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 to Contraband‘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,” Contraband promises 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 that vehicular combat may be one of Contraband‘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 an Xbox Games Showcase set to broadcast on June 8, and there is hope among fans that Contraband may finally re-emerge at this upcoming presentation. However, Contraband wasn’t part of a recent rumor alleging some of the games that are part of the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, namely Hollow Knight: Silksong, Gears of War Collection, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, and a remake of Persona 4. Only time will tell if Avalanche might show off its long-running efforts for Contraband in the near future, but for now, the minor development update is an encouraging sign.