Following the cancellation of the Xbox exclusive title Contraband earlier this year, Avalanche Studios of Just Cause fame initiated a collective consultation process ahead of shutting down. They proposed the closure of their Liverpool studio as well as restructuring in both of their studios in Sweden. This process has now concluded, and Avalanche Studios has announced their closure, resulting in 31 developers being laid off.
Avalanche Studios most recent title, Contraband was cancelled back in August amidst huge restructuring and layoffs at Microsoft. The game was initially announced way back in 2021 and was due to be a co-operative, open-world title, set in the fictional world of Bayan. After the cancellation, the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer commented on the changes at Microsoft stating that the changes aimed to “end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness”. Following the cancellation, Avalanche Studios then started the collective consultation procedure, a requirement in UK law which has now come to an end. The studio released the following statement on their website to confirm their closure:
This is the latest in a string of recent layoffs during a time of turmoil across the industry, recently Rockstar Games have found themselves in controversy after firing members of staff. You can read more about that and the protests that followed here.
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