Legendary master of horror, Shinji Mikami, has commented on the surprise closure of the studio he founded, Tango Gameworks, shuttered in the latest round of Microsoft layoffs. Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, spent many years at Capcom, co-founded Platinum Games, and seemed intent on training the next generation of creatives at Tango Gameworks. He described the entire state of affairs as "sad".
On Twitter (thanks, PC Gamer), Mikami made the brief but devastating comment, with the entire quote being: "Tango closed. Sad." Tango Gameworks was founded in 2010 with the idea that Mikami would direct the studio's first title, The Evil Within, before letting proteges Hideki Kamiya, John Johanas, Shu Takumi, and Ikuma Nakamura come to the fore. This approach would result in titles like The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and, ultimately, Hi-Fi Rush. Mikami left Tango in 2023, two years after Microsoft Game Studios acquired parent company Zenimax.
With the IP eventually coming to PS5, Tango was rumoured to be in the process of pitching a Hi-Fi Rush sequel, which makes the decision to shutter the studio even more agonising.
Are you sad, like Mikami, to see the closure of Tango Gameworks? Take heart that his legacy is secured through the success of his students in the comments section below.
[source pcgamer.com]
Comments 14
I am pretty sure he knew the boat was gonna sink under Microsoft and got ahead of it.
Not that it was difficult to guess.
Sad indeed. I enjoyed the evil within series.
Not a horror kind of guy, but I enjoyed Ghostwire and (on the strength of trying it on a series X via gamepass) just bought Hi-Fi Rush for PS5.
Such a shame. I hope all the folks who cheered MS’s acquisition of Bethesda and the rest are still just as happy after this.
@Nem I feel it was gonna close under Zenimax too. They were not doing well with most of their studios prior to the acquisition either. Dishonored 2, Prey, EW2, Wolfenstein 2 were all sales disappointments. It still sucks but the writing was on the wall imo.
@dskatter I mean, to be fair.. Sony does stuff like this all the time too. I still haven't forgiven them for closing Japan Studios.
@breakneck thats is indeed the problem they made some great games but people didnt buy them
Well guess that means we won’t ever get a sequel to Hi Fi Rush or another Evil Within.
They probably wouldn’t have been shut down if Microsoft hadn’t bought Bethesda
@Maubari Everyone complains about the closure of Japan Studios but how many of their games made money? I know their working was extremely expensive we all complain but how many people bought their games.
@Maubari At least they were merged into Team Asobi instead of completely let go.
Plus, with Hi Fi Rush getting a PS5 release to impressive success, this decision is even more baffling.
Enjoyed all of them. The Evil Within, Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and, Hi-Fi Rush.
You produce games like these and still get closed down - "sad" indeed.
Genuine question, who still owns the IPs?
The game didn't sell well 200.000 copies and critic scores isn't going to magically make it money.
The constant upgrades in hardware will push normal games away for fortnite cr.p.
Sony and microsoft probably wants to force in ai because developers keep screwing with their games.
Both Evil Within games remain two of my favourite games ever. This news is so goddamn sad…
@Flaming_Kaiser good point. Or how many people were cheap and entitled and only bought the games on half price despite them reviewing well? The industry doesn’t sustain itself
I see that fans are sad to see this but to me it, ehh it happens to games even if they successful or not.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...