The unfortunate trend of major video game developers and publishing laying off team members is continuing in the new month of June. Today, Avalanche Studios announced it was closing down two of its five locations and laying off about 50 of its team members as a result. The company said the numbers represented about nine percent of its total workforce.
In a blog post, Avalanche stated that the New York and Montreal locations will be shut down. The Montreal offices were part of an acquisition Avalanche made only a few months ago, in October 2023, when it bought Monster Closet, which itself was formed in 2021. The company still has two offices in Sweden and Liverpool, UK.
The blog post added:
This is an exceptionally difficult decision, but we believe it’s necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company Our focus is now on supporting all Avalanchers through this challenging time. We’re grateful for the invaluable contributions of those leaving and remain committed to creating incredible gaming experiences for our players.
Formed in 2003, Avalanche Studios is best known for creating and developing the four games in the Just Cause open-world action series. It also made other open-world titles like Rage 2 for id Software and Bethesda Softworks, along with a game based on the Mad Max series. In addition, its Expansive Worlds team has released a number of games under The Hunter series of first-person hunting titles.
In June 2021, Microsoft announced it would publish Contraband, a crime-themed co-op action game developed by Avalanche Studios. Like many of its other games, Contraband was announced as an open-world title but set during the 1970s. Since its announcement, Microsoft and Avalanche have said little to nothing about the game's development, and there's no word on when we might get more info about Contraband, including a release date.
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