Avalanche Studios has confirmed that the studio will suffer layoffs across each branch in Malmö, Stockholm, and Liverpool, with Liverpool closing down and its entire staff laid off. The cuts come a little less than two months after Contraband, the project it was working on since 2021 which was set to be an Xbox exclusive, was cancelled as part of the massive cuts Microsoft made earlier this year.
In a statement posted to its official website, the studio known for its Just Cause games began by saying, "In light of current challenges to our business and the industry, we have thoroughly reviewed how to best ensure Avalanche Studios Group's long-term success."
"This review has led us to the difficult conclusion that we must make changes to our staffing and locations. As a result, we are proposing to close our Liverpool studio, and to initiate a collective consultation process, as required by UK law. This will impact all Avalanchers in Liverpool. The changes will also impact our other studio locations in Malmö and Stockholm, where we will reduce our workforce and restructure teams to address our games' needs. Our immediate focus is to offer full support to all Avalanchers during this challenging time. Despite these changes, we remain deeply committed to providing amazing games to our passionate player communities."
When Microsoft's massive 9,000+ layoff hit this past July as part of the company's increased focus and investment in its AI efforts, it wasn't exactly clear if Contraband would be part of the same fallout that struck Perfect Dark, Everwild, and ZeniMax Online's unannounced new MMO.
That said, the Contraband trailer that announced the game in 2021 being set to 'private' on the official Xbox YouTube channel, was certainly telling. The cancellation was confirmed a little more than a month after the initial wave of Microsoft layoffs broke.
When Avalanche Studios laid off staff while it was still developing Contraband, before we knew what the game's fate would be, at least we could hope the studio would muddle through because it had a project on the go. Now with Contraband gone and an entire branch of the studio shut down, it is a much bleaker picture for Avalanche Studios future.
Avalanche Studios has not commented on exactly how many developers are being laid off, and how many worked at its Liverpool studio. According to its website, prior to this round of layoffs, Avalanche had a team of 500 developers across the three branches.
Update 02/10/2025: This story was updated to accurately reflect the number of employees at Avalanche to be 500, not 600, as was incorrectly marked on its website.
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