Microsoft kills another Xbox exclusive but Hideo Kojima's OD is still alive
A slew of Xbox layoffs last month led to the cancellation of various games, including Project Dark, Everwild, and the unannounced Blackbird.
Those cancellations put a big question mark over the future of other Xbox-published games, and while we still don't have an answer on some of them, like State Of Decay 3, the fate of two other games have now been revealed.
Unfortunately, it's bad news for Contraband from Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, which is no longer in active development.
While Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier initially reported that 'Xbox is cancelling Contraband', a subsequent statement from the studio leaves it on a more ambiguous note.
'Over the past several years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband,' a statement on the studio's website reads. 'Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project's future.
'We're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community since we announced and we will give an update on what's next as soon as we can.'
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Contraband was revealed in a cinematic trailer in 2021 but nothing has been shown of it since. It was described as a 'co-op smuggler's paradise set in the fictional world 1970s reality', directed by Just Cause 4 writer Omar Shakir.
Considering Microsoft hasn't been shy about explicitly cancelling games, it's difficult to gauge whether the vague phrasing means there's a future for Contraband or if it's just an attempt at damage control. Either way, we wouldn't hold out much hope for the game's future. More Trending
Things seem more optimistic for Hideo Kojima's Xbox exclusive OD, which is apparently still in development. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the news to Schreier (via Bluesky), but there's still every chance it could be cancelled at a later date.
Announced in 2022, OD is a horror game written by Kojima and Get Out director Jordan Peele, starring Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. A short trailer was released at The Game Awards in 2023 but nothing has been shown since.
Microsoft has a number of other games in development, including Gears Of War: E-Day, State Of Decay 3, Fable, Marvel's Blade, Keeper from Double Fine, and The Outer Worlds 2. The latter two are the only ones with specific release dates, set for later this year, but the rest all have ambigious 2026 windows or nothing at all.
As for Microsoft's future gaming plans, the company is set to launch its own handheld device, the ROG Xbox Ally, later this year – rumoured to be October 16.
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Metro
14 hours ago
- Metro
Microsoft kills another Xbox exclusive but Hideo Kojima's OD is still alive
Microsoft has confirmed another Xbox exclusive is no longer in active development, but the studio is avoiding the term 'cancelled'. A slew of Xbox layoffs last month led to the cancellation of various games, including Project Dark, Everwild, and the unannounced Blackbird. Those cancellations put a big question mark over the future of other Xbox-published games, and while we still don't have an answer on some of them, like State Of Decay 3, the fate of two other games have now been revealed. Unfortunately, it's bad news for Contraband from Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, which is no longer in active development. While Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier initially reported that 'Xbox is cancelling Contraband', a subsequent statement from the studio leaves it on a more ambiguous note. 'Over the past several years, Avalanche Studios Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on Contraband,' a statement on the studio's website reads. 'Active development has now stopped while we evaluate the project's future. 'We're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community since we announced and we will give an update on what's next as soon as we can.' Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Contraband was revealed in a cinematic trailer in 2021 but nothing has been shown of it since. It was described as a 'co-op smuggler's paradise set in the fictional world 1970s reality', directed by Just Cause 4 writer Omar Shakir. Considering Microsoft hasn't been shy about explicitly cancelling games, it's difficult to gauge whether the vague phrasing means there's a future for Contraband or if it's just an attempt at damage control. Either way, we wouldn't hold out much hope for the game's future. More Trending Things seem more optimistic for Hideo Kojima's Xbox exclusive OD, which is apparently still in development. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the news to Schreier (via Bluesky), but there's still every chance it could be cancelled at a later date. Announced in 2022, OD is a horror game written by Kojima and Get Out director Jordan Peele, starring Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. A short trailer was released at The Game Awards in 2023 but nothing has been shown since. Microsoft has a number of other games in development, including Gears Of War: E-Day, State Of Decay 3, Fable, Marvel's Blade, Keeper from Double Fine, and The Outer Worlds 2. The latter two are the only ones with specific release dates, set for later this year, but the rest all have ambigious 2026 windows or nothing at all. As for Microsoft's future gaming plans, the company is set to launch its own handheld device, the ROG Xbox Ally, later this year – rumoured to be October 16. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Battlefield 6 open beta review in progress – beautiful destruction MORE: Ninja Gaiden 4 hands-on preview – the return of PlatinumGames MORE: Starfield has been redeemed – by turning it into a huge Star Wars RPG
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Ninja Gaiden 4 hands-on preview - the return of PlatinumGames
The creators of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising aim for a big budget redemption story, not just for Ninja Gaiden but for themselves as developers. It's now well over a decade since Ninja Gaiden 3 and it's fair to say that it and spin-off Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z had a disastrous effect on the franchise, to the point where it wouldn't have been a surprise if the whole series had died and never come back. However, although its history goes back to the late eighties, it's been closely associated with Xbox ever since it was rebooted as an Xbox exclusive in 2004. Together with sister series Dead Or Alive, it's the only major Japanese-made franchise that's consistently been associated with Xbox, even though all the games have released on PlayStation eventually and there's also been Nintendo spin-offs. No doubt that's why Microsoft has helped to finance not just this new sequel but the recent 2D spin-off Ragebound and new remasters of the originals. That's great and everything but we admit our primary interest here is that PlatinumGames is the main developer for the game. After so many high profile exits from the company it seemed as if the studio, who were one of our favourites of the last decade, were doomed, but this is their big chance to redeem themselves and so far the signs are good, that they've not squandered the opportunity. The two most important things to make clear from the start is that this has relatively little in common, beyond the broadest of strokes, with the earlier Ninja Gaiden games and… this probably isn't going to end up as peak PlatinumGames. The fact that it gets anywhere close seems a miracle, given co-director (original creators Team Ninja are still involved in an advisory role) Yuji Nakao doesn't seem to have been in charge of any major game before – the closest he's got is producer on Bayonetta 3. As in Ragebound, you don't start off as series regular Ryu Hayabusa but instead new character Yakumo, from the rival, but not antagonistic, Bloodraven clan. Ninja Gaiden is an odd franchise, in that not only do you do very little ninja-ing but you're usually fighting demons while in a near future setting. Ninja Gaiden 4 takes place in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, with a distinct cyberpunk atmosphere, that's also encircled by the defeated husk of the Dark Dragon from the first game and the DS spin-off. We're not sure how many Ninja Gaiden lore experts there are in the world, but we didn't have a clue what was going on in terms of the story, but it was all clearly just a blanket excuse to have whatever kind of monster or sci-fi silliness you want going on, which suits Platinum's usual style very well. It's not that the game is completely unlike other Ninja Gaiden titles but it's really only a few of the characters and the general concept of an ultra violent ninja game that connects it. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Right from the start, you can see the Bayonetta influences, with Yakumo being very agile and having a similar mix of simple light and heavy attacks, but also optional combos that you can learn (and are taught in a very familiar looking training mode). His big gimmick is transforming into Bloodraven form, where he gains an unfeasibly large sword that's powered by his enemies' blood, or something. It's quite possible we didn't appreciate all the nuances, in the part of the game we played (the first chapter, split into four parts – although the preview forced us to play the final two parts, and the end of the second, in challenge mode, without the story) but Bloodraven form didn't seem to do all that much except give you a bigger sword for a while. There is an awful lot of special abilities to learn though, with lots of different kinds of dodges, as well as bloody finisher moves on anyone who's legs you've already chopped off – which usually rewards you with some health. If you learn some of the combos they often do things like allowing you to throw an enemy or launch them into the air, so this is by no means a button masher. If you hold down the heavy attack button you can also charge up a more powerful attack (of which there seem to be many) and Yakumo seems to have different weapons as well, including a long range lance. He's also got a berserk mode, with its own power meter, so there's a lot to keep in mind, as you figure out what works best for which situations. We were able to play as Ryu in challenge mode, but because there were no tutorials associated with him we're not sure we understood everything. He does play more similarly to the older games though, being slower and stronger than Yakumo, but his main ability is gleam mode, which is powered by attacks and blocks – just like Yakumo – but used to activate either super fast magic attacks or a variety of different powers selected via the D-pad. Ninja Gaiden 4 is entertainingly weird and unpredictable, with a fair amount of exploration involved – which is encouraged by a wide array of side quests. The levels aren't open world, but they do have a lot of optional areas to explore which is usually rewarded, including with a demonic portal that triggers a survival mode, which is, again, quite similar to Bayonetta. There's also a lot of rail-grinding and swinging about with a grappling hook, with the levels looking quite abstract at times. Complex or realistic graphics have never really been Platinum's thing and it would be generous to say this looks very last gen. It's smooth as silk in terms of movement though and without any sign of slowdown that we saw – or indeed any bugs at all. The game is difficult, as is Ninja Gaiden's nature, but we didn't find it overwhelming. Not in the way previous games can be right from the first, although the boss at the end of the four stage is a real pain. Even then, the trainer and his pet raven, who teach you new moves, also offer to help out if things get too tough. So, between that and an easy mode this isn't as offputtingly hard as you might think. More Trending We enjoyed our time with Ninja Gaiden 4 and while there are many similarities with Bayonetta we couldn't also help thinking of Metal Gear Rising and how this… isn't anything like that at all really. It's lacking an equivalent of that game's sword gimmick, where you controlled its direction with the analogue sticks, and since it also doesn't have Bayonetta's wackier witch powers it seems like it's missing something to make it feel equally unique. Perhaps that will seem less the case once we play the full game, but no matter how this compares with Platinum's very best it's light years ahead of disasters like Babylon's Fall and Bayonetta Origins. It's a good, solid continuation of the Ninja Gaiden saga that isn't beholden to the past and already seems considerably better than Ninja Gaiden 3. Exactly how much better though we'll have to wait and see. Formats: Xbox Series X/S (previewed), PlayStation 5, and PCPrice: £59.99*Publisher: Xbox Game StudiosDeveloper: PlatinumGames and Team NinjaRelease Date: 21st October 2025 Age Rating: 18 *available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from day one Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Battlefield 6 open beta early access has started – here's how to join MORE: PS5 sales pass 80 million but Sony admits live service plan 'not going smoothly' MORE: EA Sports FC 26 hands-on preview – a bigger change than you think
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
Call Of Duty ‘too big to fail' against Battlefield 6 says Activision
Activision may be a bit too confident about the chances of Battlefield competing with Call of Duty, as the beta for Battlefield 6 begins. Battlefield 6 has been making a lot of positive headlines recently, with thousands of people queuing up to play this week's beta, days before it actually began. Naturally, none of this has gone unnoticed by Call Of Duty publisher Activision, who are now owned by Microsoft. They're never likely to comment on EA's would-be rival in public but a leak suggests that while Activision is watching events with interest, they're not worried. In fact, apparently the phrase that's going round the Activision boardroom is that Call Of Duty is 'too big to fail', which sounds like just the sort of overconfident bravado that often leads to disaster… The quote comes from Insider Gaming, which claims that Activision believes this year's Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 to be a 'strong' title, that doesn't leave the franchise particularly weak against Battlefield 6. Black Ops 7 has had a difficult development though, and it's unusual to have two games from the same sub-series released in consecutive years, since Black Ops 6 was out last year. Although little is known officially about Black Ops 7 at the moment, with a full reveal planned at Gamescom in two weeks' time, it does have a similar near future setting, even if the Call Of Duty games have never aimed for realism in the same way as Battlefield. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The fact is though, EA has been trying to position Battlefield as a rival to Call Of Duty for decades and it's never really come close, with Call Of Duty, even in some of its leaner years, always outselling Battlefield by around 3:1 and often much more. EA's expectations for Battlefield 6 are reportedly quite unrealistic but they should be happy if the game can make any inroads against Call Of Duty. However, it will be very difficult to judge how well the two titles are doing in comparison to each other. Neither publisher is likely to reveal sales figures and Call Of Duty's availability on Game Pass will make even Steam user counts unreliable – although that, along with leaks, is likely to be the primary method. What will also be interesting is how Call Of Duty: Warzone compares against Battlefield's rumoured battle royale game. Although the game has been officially acknowledged by EA it's not been revealed in any detail and it's unclear if it will be out this year. More Trending Battlefield 6 will launch on October 10, while Black Ops 7's release date should be announced at Gamescom. If it's anything other than the usual late October or early November, then that might be the first indication that Activision are changing their plans in light of the increased rivalry. There are three Battlefield open beta periods in August, and the first started on Thursday, August 7 at 9am BST. That's only available if you have early access though and, unfortunately, if you don't have a code for the beta now then there's no obvious way to get one, unless someone happens to give you theirs or EA does a surprise drop via their X account. That first beta period will segue straight into the second, which runs from Saturday, August 9 to this Sunday. For that you can still try and find a streamer on Twitch that is giving away codes, if you watch them for at least an hour, or hope that EA gives away more via X. The third and find stage of the beta starts on August 14 and runs to August 17. That's likely to be the easiest one to get access to at this point and there'll be plenty of streamers on Twitch offering codes, as well as promotions from EA. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: GTA Online age check settings confirmed real as screenshots leak MORE: EA Sports FC 26 hands-on preview – a bigger change than you think MORE: Super Mario Bros. 40th anniversary leaks are fake but what is Nintendo planning?
