Just Cause studio’s new game Contraband is reportedly based around vehicle combat

“They are going for a sort of more tactical kind of action game,” it’s claimed

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios’ new IP Contraband will reportedly be focused on vehicle combat.

Announced in June 2021 and set to be published by Xbox Game Studios for console and PC, Contraband is officially billed as “a co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan”.

Fresh information about the open-world title has been thin on the ground since then, but Windows Central’s Jez Corden claimed to “know what the game is” during a World of Gaming stream this week.

“I got the design brief… It’s sort of based entirely around vehicle combat, [it’s a] very different type of game,” he said.

“Basically, you plan smuggling runs and heists and then you execute them. It’s sort of like, the idea is to not to kill your opponents.

“The weapons revolve around disabling enemy vehicles like taking out the tires and stuff like that, rather than going on massive killing sprees with bloodshed and all that kind of stuff,” he added.

“They are going for a sort of more tactical kind of action game where killing is sort of seen as a last resort.”

In an Xbox Wire post when Contraband was announced, director Omar Shakir called it the studio’s “most ambitious and spectacular game to date”.

Avalanche and Microsoft started discussing the project three years earlier, Shakir said, but he didn’t reveal how far along development was.

“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,” said Shakir.

“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.

“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.”

As well as the Just Cause series, Stockholm, Sweden-based Avalanche also developed 2015’s Mad Max and co-developed 2019’s Rage 2 with id Software.