Just Cause and Mad Max developer Avalanche Studios has announced that it will be laying off some of its employees, and that it intends to close down its UK location.
In a news update on its official website, Avalanche says these layoffs are happening in order to "best ensure Avalanche Studios Group's long-term success", blaming "current challenges to [its] business and the industry".
The developer's UK location, which is based in Liverpool, will be closed, and staff reductions will also be happening at its Malmo and Stockholm offices, although Avalanche stops short of revealing exactly how many employees will be losing their jobs, or which departments the layoffs will hit hardest.
The studio closes by saying that its "immediate focus" is helping those who are losing their jobs, and that it remains "deeply committed to providing amazing games" to its "passionate player communities".
News of Avalanche Studios' layoffs and UK studio closure comes after reports that Contraband, the game the studio was working on for Xbox Game Studios, was canceled as part of a wider wave of layoffs and cancellations at Microsoft.
That wave also hit the likes of Rare's Everwild and The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot, with the latter's cancellation also resulting in the demise of the studio.
Contraband's cancellation was, perhaps, not particularly surprising; the game was announced all the way back in 2021, and between then and its eventual shutdown, both Avalanche and Xbox were very quiet indeed about the project.
It's important to note that Avalanche Studios is entirely distinct as an entity from Avalanche Software, the developer that worked on the phenomenally successful wizarding RPG Hogwarts Legacy for Warner Bros.
As far as we know, Avalanche Software isn't being hit by layoffs, although given the dire time Warner Bros. has been having in the gaming space recently, news of layoffs or closures wouldn't come as a surprise. Stay tuned for more on all things industry-related.
