Avalanche officially closes UK studio following Contraband cancelation

Avalanche Studios has officially shut down its UK office in Liverpool. The news follows on from the cancellation of a publishing agreement between Avalanche and Xbox Game Studios for the long in-development game, Contraband. 

Shortly after the cancellation of the publishing deal, Avalanche Studios said that it was pausing development to “evaluate the project's future”. That evaluation appears to have come to an end now, with the Avalanche Studio in Liverpool officially shutting its doors today.

In its announcement today, Avalanche said: “We can now confirm that this process has concluded, that the studio has closed and that we have parted ways with 31 people”.

Avalanche has still not publicly stated that Contraband is fully cancelled. However, with the team behind it now gone, it seems unlikely that the project will be revived. At the very least, development would likely need to be rebooted under a new creative team.

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KitGuru Says: The recent shake-up at Xbox Game Studios has had far reaching implications, even impacting teams not directly under the Microsoft umbrella like Avalanche and Crytal Dynamics.  

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