Avalanche Studios is a developer with a plenty of acclaim under its name, with many open-world games focused on destruction and havoc as the studio's biggest strengths. While the studio is best known for its work on the Just Cause series of games, it has also developed games like Mad Max and Rage 2. Another game under Avalanche Studios is in development, being another open-world adventure known as Contraband that is exclusive to Microsoft's Xbox platform.

Contraband was first revealed at E3 2021, during the Xbox & Bethesda Game Showcase, alongside other high-profile games such as Starfield and Sea of Thieves. The trailer was very brief but gave gamers an idea of what to expect, giving out details such as it being a cooperative multiplayer open-world game, with a heavy focus on vehicles. Some photos in the trailer depict players pushing and towing vehicles through mud or flying through the air. It's no surprise that an insider's report indicates that Contraband will heavily focus on vehicular combat.

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This information was reported on by Windows Central's Jez Corden, a notable gaming industry insider during a World of Gaming stream. He indicates that he received a gaming design brief where he was quite interested in what it had to offer. Corden noted that it was "based entirely around vehicle combat" and that it was a "very different" type of game. These details match what was shown about Contraband when it was revealed at E3 2021.

Corden goes more into Contraband's gameplay, where players are planning smuggling runs and heists to execute. The main goal of this upcoming Avalanche Studios game however is to not kill the massive waves of enemies that would block a player's path. He adds this is a contrast where instead of players going on massive killing sprees, the weaponry provided is more based around disabling enemy vehicles, with tactics like taking out an enemy vehicle's tires.

Corden ends the discussion on the topic with the idea that the developers at Avalanche Studios are making Contraband a much more tactical kind of action game. This lines up with previous statements about Contraband from director Omar Shakir, as he called it the studio's "most ambitious and spectacular" game that is being developed. It had also been a rumored project for a few years, that led to speculation of a possible acquisition by Xbox. While that did not turn out to be the case, there's still quite some time before Contraband's release, and these details give a clearer picture of what to expect.

Contraband is in development for PC and Xbox.

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Source: VGC