Microsoft has stopped development on Contraband, a multiplayer co-op title that was in the works at Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios. The game, which was set to be published by Xbox Game Studios, was announced in 2021, but the developer had not shared any updates since the reveal. While Contraband follows a spate of game cancellations at Microsoft, the company has reportedly not axed Hideo Kojima’s horror title OD, currently in development in collaboration with Xbox.
Microsoft Cancels Contraband
Contraband’s cancellation was first reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier on Thursday before being confirmed by Avalanche. In an update on its website, the Swedish studio said it would assess the game’s future.
“Over the past several years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband,” the developer said. “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.”
While the statement suggests the game may yet have a future, Schreier, in a post on Bluesky, claimed the project was cancelled. Contraband was announced with a brief cinematic trailer at Xbox and Bethesda’s E3 showcase in 2021. The game was described as a “co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan. Contraband was set to be an Xbox Series S/X console exclusive, with confirmed launch on Xbox Game Pass, Steam, and Windows.
Hideo Kojima’s OD Still in Development
Amid several cancellations at Xbox, fans have speculated about the fate of OD, the horror game in development at Kojima Productions with Xbox Game Studios as the publishing partner. A Microsoft spokesperson, however, told Schreier that OD was still in development. No further details about the project are available.
The latest cancellation at Xbox comes a month after widespread cuts at Microsoft that saw nearly four percent of its total workforce — over 9,000 employees — laid off. The retrenchment drive led to several project cancellations at the Xbox division, including the Perfect Dark reboot, Rare’s Everwild, and an unannounced MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.
Several other studios at Xbox, including Candy Crush developer King, Call of Duty makers Raven Software and Sledgehammer Games, Halo Studios, and Forza Motorsport developer Turn10 Studios, were hit with layoffs, as well. The entire Forza Motorsport team was reportedly laid off.
The cuts came despite strong quarterly results from Microsoft, which recently hit $4 trillion (roughly Rs. 3,49,15,020 crore) in market valuation — only the second company in history to do so. At its fourth-quarter FY 2025 earnings call last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Xbox Game Pass annual revenue hit nearly $5 billion for the first time over the past year. The tech giant’s Gaming revenue grew 10 percent, while Xbox content and services revenue rose 13 percent in FY 2025.
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![‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Will Bring the Equivalent of Nuclear War to Westeros
We’re just a few weeks away from the return of House of the Dragon, and all signs point to the bloodiest, most destruction-heavy season yet. The marketing thus far has screamed “war” and “agony“; the show’s co-creator and showrunner, Ryan Condal, has promised “arguably the craziest episode of television ever” with the season-opening Battle of the Gullet. At the recent ATX TV Festival, he again emphasized how wild the Dance of the Dragons is going to get, going so far as to use nuclear war as a comparison. As reported by Deadline, Condal spoke about how many practical effects are involved in the first episode of season three, which will vividly bring the seafaring excitement to life. However, there’s another element to Westeros warfare of this period that goes well beyond ships firing on each other: those Targaryen dragons blazing at each other in the sky. “There is a lot of dragon action,” Condal teased. “There are new ones that we haven’t really spent any time with at all that you’ll be very excited to see, and some old favorites come back in and get lots of exciting screen time and action.”
When dragons are involved, that raises the stakes to a new level, which Condal used the language of nuclear war to describe: “mutually assured destruction.” It’s something we didn’t see in Game of Thrones, which did have some dragons in play, of course, but not on the level of the battle-ready beasts that populate House of the Dragon.
“I think the thing this show contends with that the original Game of Thrones did not contend with, at least until the very end, is this idea of there are nuclear weapons in play, and there are nuclear weapons in play on both sides,” he explained. “So really you have this classic Cold War standoff of mutually assured destruction. Of course, the characters in the show would not have those words, but we as a modern audience that can see that [do].” In season two, as the Dance of the Dragons was getting underway, “Nobody wants to make the big move that is going to break down the wrath of [the dragon] Vhagar or Daemon, because they realize that if it goes too far, you could just have ash left over,” Condal said. “But, of course, that builds and builds and builds, and at some point the cork comes off the champagne bottle, and that’s where we begin here in season three.”
Spoiler alert: Westeros itself does survive, since it’s still around for Game of Thrones several generations later. But we can assume a lot of castles and landscape and people and dragons won’t be making it through this clash of Targaryens. House of the Dragon season three begins June 21 on HBO. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #House #Dragon #Season #Bring #Equivalent #Nuclear #War #WesterosGame of Thrones,HBO,House of the Dragon ‘House of the Dragon’ Season 3 Will Bring the Equivalent of Nuclear War to Westeros
We’re just a few weeks away from the return of House of the Dragon, and all signs point to the bloodiest, most destruction-heavy season yet. The marketing thus far has screamed “war” and “agony“; the show’s co-creator and showrunner, Ryan Condal, has promised “arguably the craziest episode of television ever” with the season-opening Battle of the Gullet. At the recent ATX TV Festival, he again emphasized how wild the Dance of the Dragons is going to get, going so far as to use nuclear war as a comparison. As reported by Deadline, Condal spoke about how many practical effects are involved in the first episode of season three, which will vividly bring the seafaring excitement to life. However, there’s another element to Westeros warfare of this period that goes well beyond ships firing on each other: those Targaryen dragons blazing at each other in the sky. “There is a lot of dragon action,” Condal teased. “There are new ones that we haven’t really spent any time with at all that you’ll be very excited to see, and some old favorites come back in and get lots of exciting screen time and action.”
When dragons are involved, that raises the stakes to a new level, which Condal used the language of nuclear war to describe: “mutually assured destruction.” It’s something we didn’t see in Game of Thrones, which did have some dragons in play, of course, but not on the level of the battle-ready beasts that populate House of the Dragon.
“I think the thing this show contends with that the original Game of Thrones did not contend with, at least until the very end, is this idea of there are nuclear weapons in play, and there are nuclear weapons in play on both sides,” he explained. “So really you have this classic Cold War standoff of mutually assured destruction. Of course, the characters in the show would not have those words, but we as a modern audience that can see that [do].” In season two, as the Dance of the Dragons was getting underway, “Nobody wants to make the big move that is going to break down the wrath of [the dragon] Vhagar or Daemon, because they realize that if it goes too far, you could just have ash left over,” Condal said. “But, of course, that builds and builds and builds, and at some point the cork comes off the champagne bottle, and that’s where we begin here in season three.”
Spoiler alert: Westeros itself does survive, since it’s still around for Game of Thrones several generations later. But we can assume a lot of castles and landscape and people and dragons won’t be making it through this clash of Targaryens. House of the Dragon season three begins June 21 on HBO. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #House #Dragon #Season #Bring #Equivalent #Nuclear #War #WesterosGame of Thrones,HBO,House of the Dragon](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2026/05/house-of-the-dragon-battle-of-the-gullet-1280x853.jpg)
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