Sure thing. Let’s dive into this… So, Microsoft — yeah, that giant company we all love to hate or hate to love — has hit the brakes on Contraband. Imagine, an open-world co-op game from the folks at Avalanche Studios who brought us Just Cause. Oh, memories of chaos and physics-defying stunts. But, it’s, uh, not officially canceled? More like it’s in a dusty limbo, kinda like Rare’s Everwild or that elusive Perfect Dark from The Initiative.
Flashback to E3 2021. They dropped a trailer. I watched it, you watched it, maybe your cat even glanced at it. It screamed “co-op smuggler’s paradise” set in the groovy 1970s Bayan. Sounds cool, right? And it was gonna be an Xbox exclusive but also bless our beloved PCs. Yet here we are, four years later… crickets.
Avalanche gave a shoutout on their website, saying they’ve hit pause on this baby. They’re all like, “Thanks for the love!” but also wondering what’s next. It’s a mystery. Bloomberg spilled the beans first, if you’re into that sort of who-reported-first thing.
Oh, and did you hear? Microsoft axed about 9,000 jobs in July. Imagine a CEO note — probably full of jargon — telling folks why Xbox is trimming some fat. Something about focusing on “strategic growth” and all that corporate jazz. Might as well have said, “We’re trying to stay afloat, folks.”
Anyway — wait, no — what was I saying? Oh yeah, Contraband. Let’s see what happens next. Or not. Who knows?
