Avalanche Studios Group Announces Liverpool Closure, Layoff Number Undisclosed

Avalanche Studios Group announced mass layoffs, impacting all Avalanchers in the Liverpool studio alongside other studio locations in Malmö and Stockholm. The exact number of layoffs has not been disclosed, but the entirety of the Liverpool studio is affected. 

In a public statement, Avalanche stated that the layoffs and closure of the Liverpool studio were a difficult conclusion, made to “ensure Avalanche Studios Group’s long-term success.” The reduction in the other studios was made to “restructure the teams to address [their] games’ needs.” Despite losing an undisclosed portion of its workforce, Avalanche communicated its commitment to provide amazing games to the passionate player communities. 

The layoffs follow Xbox’s cancellation of Contraband, which ceased development in early August. Contraband was supposed to be developed by Avalanche, having initially been marketed in 2021 as a cooperative open-world heist game. Since its initial reveal, very few updates have been provided. The news of Contraband’s ceased development comes a couple of weeks after Microsoft held widespread layoffs, which resulted in the cancellation of numerous Xbox titles. The Xbox layoffs affected over 9000 employees.