
A final update for Hi-Fi Rush released this week: a gift from developer Tango Gameworks before it closes its doors for good. The update fixes a selection of minor bugs on PS5, and will be the final title update, as Xbox has decided to shut down the decorated Japanese developer. The studio, founded by industry icon Shinji Mikami, released several acclaimed titles under parent company Bethesda’s banner, including The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo.
“Absolute sadness to see this in writing,” creative director John Johanas said of the release’s last-ever update. “It’s been a week since the news but emotionally, an eternity. Even though it’s a small final update, we can look forward to the physical version being released. To everyone who supported us, you are all rockstars.”
Indeed, those who still want to show their support for Tango Gameworks and love of Hi-Fi Rush may consider purchasing a physical copy of the well-regarded rhythm action release through Limited Run Games. It’s perhaps a sign of the times that a major, tentpole Microsoft title is getting its long overdue retail run courtesy of a niche indie publisher after its developer has been shuttered, but this at least represents one last opportunity for a great team to go out on a high.
[source twitter.com, via bethesda.net]
Comments 43
I'm still shocked by Tango's closure. The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo, Hi-Fi Rush ... I really loved all of those games. So sad!
@MadCaptain2207
Me too. I'm through my second 2nd run of Hi Fi Rush and i can't stop thinking about Tango when i'm playing. I really loved Ghostwire too.
@MadCaptain2207 It really sucks! No one is safe!
@get2sammyb yeah I feel like ninja theory and double fine is probably next sadly.
I honestly feel Tango Gameworks would be such a good fit for Sony. Japanese studio and makes quirky games, all the things they are missing. C’mon new CEO’s
Truly sad I'm certain Ninja Theory will be next I have series doubts Hellblade II will sell it's out in like a week and there's no advertising for it anywhere and no hype or buzz around it. It's meant to be one of their biggest releases this gen yet you wouldn't even know they were making it from their end with how little they're promoting it (even though I've never liked anything Ninja Theory have made they don't deserve this fate but it's most likely where they're headed)
I loved Ghostwire Tokyo. It had interesting premise. It is a shame we won't see a sequel.
@CieloAzure Would we have wanted a sequel? The Ghostwire Tokyo we got probably wasn't even close to the one we were supposed to get since Ikumi Nakamura left a couple of months after it was announced.
@themightyant I thought that. They would be the perfect studio to give them a more Japanese focus @AverageGamer I definitely wanted a Ghostwire sequel, i personally loved the game.
I will admit though that the original teaser for it was amazing
@Jay767 Sadly this round was just the Bethesda cull, I fear there is more to come, but they have to wait for the heat to die down. It will be MS studios next and then ABK in a year or so. Mark my words.
Form now on, whenever people say that "make a good game and people will buy it", I'll direct them to this page.
Unfortunately, sales =/= quality
@themightyant unfortunately, with the direction they've been taking, it wouldn't surprise me if they focused entirely on big budget releases.
@naruball The hope is new CEO's slightly new direction. They usually all have a slightly different philosophy.
@MrBook but it could have done better on ps5. Unfortunately, it did not perform well enough. I couldn't agree more about GP.
It's easier to buy studios than to run them, I guess...
@themightyant I guess we'll find out eventually, but I don't see the new CEOs as a significant improvement. They all have to report to shareholders and now anything short of amazing is considered a failure.
@MrBook Bungie would be a good bet for next shutdown or at least big layoffs.
@MrBook that's very likely. An absolute shame.
@Sifi shutdown after paying billions? I don't see it happening. More layoffs will surely follow, though.
@MrBook that's true. It's the whole "us vs them" mentality that most people have. If you think about it, it's quite ridiculous.
Oof. A true shame. All I can say is I'm sorry it came to this. Tango absolutely did not deserve to go out like this. Truly just a very sad story.
@MrBook Lol.
Do you really think that Bethesda, which already had a problems with cashflow would be able to sustain studios like Arkane Austin or Tango by themselves?
Let's not kid ourselves please. Bethesda wanted to sell because they were in deep financial *****. They pivoted hard into live services like Redfall, Fallout 76 and Wolfenstein Youngblood, because of their problems.
And that's not to excuse Microsoft. Because their financial situation is more than fine and their actions are just sad. But I would argue that Bethesda without buyout would be even worse.
It's not like Deathloop and GhostWire set world on fire from commercial perspective.
Bu bu bu but consolidation.
I've been thinking about this, and how big a PR WIN it would be if Sony was to buy Tango, or at least do a deal for them to create something (thus keeping them together). Such an easy PR victory.
@MrBook No. I'm not making excuses. It's ridiculous that 3 trillion dollar company can't spare few millions for two studios to continue to exist.
I'm just challenging the opinion that nothing like that would have happened without Microsoft buying Bethesda. Because I truly think that Bethesda would be ***** as a whole without external investments.
It's hilarious that we are seeing studios closures left and right, independent and studios under publishers and first thought that people will say is "consolidation is bad." Just lol.
Really sad. But i wonder who's next at the chopping block, Id Soft? I heard Doom Eternal doesn't sold as good as Doom 2016 and i love Eternal more than 2016. And it's been 4 years since Eternal released but there's still no sign of a new Doom...
I can see Ninja Theory got closed down too. So far i don't see any marketing for Hellblade 2 and the game will release next week. It's a big contrast compare to Hellblade 1 which it got some decent marketing from Sony.
@Shwing For what? The Evil Within 2 flopped commercially. Same for GhostWire Tokyo. Hi-Fi Rush also didn't set world on fire and didn't even placed in TOP 20 on PlayStation store in the month game was released.
Sony is also trimming fat in their studios and you want them to invest in a studio that haven't produce true commercial hit since their first game?
Sure...
@Godot25
Still mostly great games... and the PR win would be priceless, no?
@Godot25
Also, only a few posts above you say "No. I'm not making excuses. It's ridiculous that 3 trillion dollar company can't spare few millions for two studios to continue to exist."
Then you say "Sony is also trimming fat in their studios and you want them to invest in a studio that haven't produce true commercial hit since their first game?" - and yet that's exactly what you said in your first statement... that it was ridiculous that MS couldn't spare a few million. So, are Tango fat that needs trimming or not - make your mind up?
@Shwing PR wins won't bring you revenue. By the time Tango would have a game ready, nobody will care about cheap PR points. Not to mention fact that The Evil Within, GhostWire and Hi-Fi Rush ip's remains with Microsoft.
Microsoft closed Tango (and Arkane) because they chose to streamline ZeniMax. So yes, Tango was a fat that needed trimming. For Microsoft. Not for me, since Hi-Fi Rush was my second favourite game last year. Which is why I think that closing of Tango is just tragedy.
So I don't understand why you think that Sony investing in Tango is good idea. You have devs, without valuable IP's attached to studio. And studio that didn't produce any commercially successful game in very long time.
One of my favourite games ever. If this comes out physical on Switch I'll be getting it for sure, (I own the PS5 Digital Edition so not an option there).
Was not expecting to love it as much as I did but it is easily in my top 5 games of all time. Sad we won't get a sequel from the original team. Hopefully we get some form of sequel in the future.
Now that MS bought ABK, gaming is a massive part of MS' business. And games, however good they may be, where investing $1 gets you back $1.25 (for the sake of argument, idk the real numbers) isn't going to cut it anymore. MS' board wants to see that division growing in a way which will please its investors, which means a focus on the bigger IPs.
I just hope that, wherever these developers land, they do great things.
While I have yet to finish Hi-Fi Rush, I really enjoyed its originality and charm! It's the kind of game the industry needs a little more of rather than "open-world this and GaaS that".
@themightyant It’d have been during the PS3 and maybe PS4 era, otherwise right now they’d have likely had the same fate as Japan Studios, which still hurts tbh.
@Godot25 "PR wins won't bring you revenue."
And yet the very definition of good PR is...
A strong PR campaign can provide both short-term and long-term results. In the short term, PR can help to generate media attention, build brand awareness, and create a positive reputation. These results can lead to increased sales, higher levels of customer satisfaction, and improved employee morale.
Obviously not in every case... but never ever heard someone say good PR won't bring you revenue, or be good for the brand.
Tango Gameworks would have been just fine without Microsoft's meddling. Never forget.
@themightyant I believe that will eventually happen on PlayStation with the new CEOs, it's just a matter of time.
The_Wailing_Doom wrote:
We don't know that, no need to add flames to the fire.
Bethesda was struggling after several poor releases, hence they wanted to sell. Perhaps Tango would have been closed sooner had Microsoft not bought them and we never would have got Hi-Fi Rush. The point is we just don't know.
@Godot25 To be fair, the Deathloop studio is fine (for now.)
PR wins may not bring you revenue, but lack of PR wins most assuredly loses revenue. PR wins and PR losses are the difference between PS4 launch and Xbox One launch.
@naruball @themightyant I have hope for the platform with the new Japanese tag team leadership, but software is still Hulst, and Hulst is still Jim's mini-me and Matt Booty's fellow traveler. I don't see their software strategy changing much. Sony's just as interested in studios like Tango as MS is. Which is to say not at all.
@Jay767 if they decided to closed double fine too then im going to be so pissed off. Freaking love psychonauts and double fine classic game like Grim Fandango
My question is where will the money from physical sales of Hi-Fi Rush go? Certainly not to anyone at Tango Gameworks since they’re no longer with the company, right? I’m pretty uninformed as to how this sort of business stuff works, but I’d assume the money will all go to Microsoft? So… Let’s all not buy the physical edition if that’s the case? Thoughts and/or knowledge?
@themightyant I would too but then again, Japan Studios (I know many under 1 umbrella so that's why Claphands and Bokeh or whoever went elsewhere or quit gaming). London Studio, Media Molecule, Pixel Opus.
Other than Asobi being the last of them I don't trust Sony and anything creative projects like those.
It's all what we see now. Sackboy/Ratchet are what they are but we see more of other IPs for a reason.
Well at least the physical is still happening but yeah sadness. The Switch release I assume will because they still want sales for all the games they planned to go multiplatform and that's understandable to follow through on them.
The games do deserve support/other audiences but if we see safe games and the creative ones not sell well sigh casual audiences and only us gamers willing to support these just aren't enough.
Somehow I see a meeting with MS execs and Todd from Bethesda along with Phil. And I feel they basically picked on these studios because Todd manage to weasel his way to stopping any firing of staff from his side because it's always Bethesda
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