What happened to Contraband? Honestly, it’s a great question – and one that I sadly do not have the answer to. The game was unveiled back in 2021, the latest adventure from Just Cause, Mad Max, and Rage 2 developer Avalanche Studios. Three years later, and there’s exceptionally little new information out there right now.Still, given the history of Avalanche Studios, Contraband remains of one GamesRadar’s most anticipated upcoming Xbox Series X games. The development team’s collaboration with the Xbox Game Studios group is sure to deliver strong results, so we’re eagerly anticipating new details. While you wait, keep scrolling to get caught up on everything we know so far about Contraband. There’s no Contraband release date confirmed yet Unlike most of the games shown during Microsoft’s star-studded E3 2021 conference, the mysterious Contraband was given no release date whatsoever. What we do know, however, is that whenever this intriguing Microsoft exclusive does arrive, it will launch on Xbox Series X and PC. Microsoft also confirmed that Contraband will be a day-one entrant into the Xbox Game Pass list. While Avalanche hasn’t said so outright, it does appear that the new game is one of the new Xbox exclusives, so a Contraband PS5 release is unlikely. Contraband trailerThe debut Contraband trailer was shown during the Xbox and Bethesda E3 2021 showcase. The teaser was designed to set the mood of this upcoming co-op game from Avalanche, and give us a hint towards the setting and characters. We’ll still be waiting for the first Contraband gameplay trailer, which could come anytime now.Contraband gameplay While Avalanche Studios is yet to show Contraband gameplay to the public, we do have a few details to share. For starters, we know that Contraband will be a co-op adventure, and that it’ll be built on the “next generation of the Apex Engine” – which is the technology which helped power the Just Cause games. Contraband game director Omar Shakir has also teased that the game will be a “co-op smuggler’s paradise”, and that it’ll be the “most ambitious and spectacular game” from the studio to date. Shakir also says that Avalanche is “taking everything we’ve learned from 18 years of being at the forefront of creating beautiful, vast open game worlds filled with stunning vistas and incredible gameplay moments.” So if you’ve spent the last two decades wondering what an open world, co-operative Just Cause might have looked like…well, Contraband may just be what you’ve been waiting for!Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter