Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios’ next game was revealed during today Xbox broadcast at E3 2021. Contraband is a joint venture between Avalanche and Xbox Game Studio, making it exclusive to Xbox systems and available on Game Pass at launch.
While the trailer was a huge tease, Avalanche has provided a bit more info via Xbox Wire.
“Contraband is a co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan, and our most ambitious and spectacular game to date,” game director Omar Shakir wrote. “We’re taking everything that we’ve learned from 18 years of being at the forefront of creating beautiful, vast open game worlds filled with stunning vistas and incredible emergent gameplay moments.”
“To fully deliver on our vision for Contraband, we have an amazing team at Avalanche Studios that are pushing the boundaries with the next generation of our Apex Engine, the technology behind all our games, including the Just Cause series,” Shakir added. “We built the engine to unlock the creativity of our developers and we’re excited to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of Xbox Series X/S.”
In addition to the increasingly over-the-top Just Cause series, Avalanche Studios released the seriously underrated Mad Max in 2015 and also partnered with id Software in the development of 2019's Rage 2.