Microsoft's sudden shuttering of several game development studios has sent shockwaves through the industry. The company's restructuring of Bethesda — which it acquired back in 2021 as part of a $7.5 billion deal — has meant that teams such as Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hi-Fi Rush) and Arkane Austin (PREY, Redfall) have been cut loose, with hundreds of employees losing their jobs.
The closure of Tango Gameworks in particular has been heavily criticised, with the aforementioned Hi-Fi Rush being its most recent release. The rhythm-based action game arrived to near universal acclaim last year, and came to PS5 in March, where it was once again greeted with glowing reviews.
Numerous social media posts and interview quotes from various Microsoft and Xbox executives have been dug up since the news hit, with many of them heaping praise on Hi-Fi Rush following its initial release. Needless to say, that kind of positivity certainly doesn't gel with what Microsoft and Xbox have done since.
And guess what? It looks like Tango Gameworks was gearing up for a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush ahead of its shuttering. As reported by Bloomberg's ever-reliable Jason Schreier, the studio was "in the process of pitching" a follow-up, according to anonymous sources. No doubt a horrible realisation for fans of the first game.
Again, since yesterday's news, both Microsoft and Xbox have been hit with a huge amount of criticism — and we can't really see it fading as long as details like this are making headlines.
Are you a Hi-Fi Rush fan? Would a sequel be high on your wish list? Never stop rocking in the comments section below.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 39
Christ, this just gets worse and worse!
My God. I don't want to be that guy, but are we looking at the moment we can say the console wars truly ended? These closures are happening at the same time Xbox is bragging they are selling more units on PS5 as a publisher than Sony this month. Seems like their strategy is shifting faster than their messaging can keep up.
In the podcast where Phil Spencer revealed that 4 games were going multiplatform, one of the reasons he explicitly stated was that by expanding consoles, the fanbase would expand to where they could capitalize on it by making sequels and follow ups. A Hi-Fi Rush 2 would have matched their explicitly stated plans. Genuinely baffled about how they shifted from this to the nuclear option of closing them down in just 4 months. Theres almost no value in what an Xbox executive says anymore.
Well that just makes the closure that much more depressing.
Thanks Microsoft.
It certainly looks interesting. I loved jet set radio and jsr future on the original xbox. Such a shame the studios have been closed and Microsoft have lost all respect from me not that they had that much anyway after the unreliable xbox 360 fiasco. I'll never own another xbox console.
@Deoxyr1bose That's the kind of stuff that really stands out to me now that the closures have happened. Every interview with Spencer and the other suits had them fawning over Hi-Fi Rush, how it was the perfect project for Game Pass, how it surpassed all expectations, and how it was a symbol of everything that Xbox wanted to do going forward.
Then the studio gets shut down out of nowhere. Say one thing, do the other. Classic corporate degeneracy.
Um, probably the dumbest question of the year, but couldn't Sony or even Nintendo take on Tango as a renamed studio of something? Do MS own the Hifi Rush/Ghostwire/Evil Within IPs?
Tango: "How about we make a sequel to our recent beloved game that blew past your internal expectations and measurements?"
Xbox: "How about we shut down your studio instead?"
I haven’t played Hi-fi Rush, but I’m wondering what will happen with the Ghostwire IP. It’s one of my favorite games and I was hoping for a sequel someday, but most people don’t seem to like it as much as I do…
Just a reminder: the FTC filed another case against Microsoft trying to retroactively stop the Activision-Blizzard deal. This second attempt seems like a slam dunk right now.
What a Lo-Fi Gush.
Microsoft is a sick evil company but this what people here wanted Ninja theory will probably be the next one to close.
There's no benefit to companies nor gamers for streaming. Unless we are forced into subbing. Glad gamers are not subbing at a high rate.
Just goes to show having bottomless pockets means nothing if you don’t understand your market and your fans
@Swirly Microsoft own all of Tango’s IPs. They hypothetically could’ve down what Sega did with Bayonetta where they have Nintendo or Sony publish a Hi-Fi Rush 2 on their own, but that would be really counterintuitive.
It’s nice to see people finally realising what myself and other have said all along in that Phil Spencer is a snake and a poison.
Shame for these studios and their games, Hi-Fi Rush was/is great.
@ShogunRok sounds like they picked Tango and Austin since they were the 2 farthest from releasing a new project (still at the pitching stage).
February 2024: Let’s fund sequels to these games by making them available on PlayStation, as Gamepass and Xbox gamers aren’t providing sufficient profits.
May 2024: bye Felicia
Yikes. Talk about a depressing story. Shutdowns are always sad to see but Tango must have been just completely blindsided by this whole thing. What a disaster Xbox created for themselves. Just absolutely shameful how they handled this.
Great job buying talented studios and then closing them, Microsoft.
Really amazing choices, dudes.
Hashtag awesome choices. 🤮
Just when I thought this couldn’t get worse …
I’m sorry, but this just spells the absolute end of Microsoft in my opinion. They might release good exclusives in the future — Hellblade 2 and Avowed, although they probably won’t stay exclusive — but they have already ruined any kind of positive reputation that garnered. And it’s obvious Game Pass isn’t working exactly as they planned; it seemingly hit a peak. I don’t think it can be considered “the best value in gaming” anymore, even from a consumer standpoint. I don’t know, man, all of this is just distasteful.
Well… regardless of the various bull**** spouted on both sides of the divide, Xbox gamers you’re more welcome over here than you’d think. I know the fashionable choice for you guys these days is an upgrade to PC… but you’d be surprised at how decent a bunch we can be tbh.
I can't help but feel like this is a precursor to Gamepass being wound down, remember that comment from obsidian "if it wasn't for Gamepass then this game wouldn't have been made"
I think hifi rush falls into the same category that Pentiment does, small/short low budget games.
We shall see and honestly nothing would surprise me at this point.
Not sure how feasible it is, but seems to me that smaller indie studios being bought out by massive corporations need to start putting clauses in place that allow them to walk away with their IPs if their new owners decide to shut them down.
It's starting to look more like an IP grab/competition cull at this point. Double Fine, Obsidian and Ninja Theory must be sweating buckets as they finish their current games. At least one, if not all are almost guaranteed to be shuttered within a year of their next release.
Microsoft really looked at the one and only team creating interesting works for their paltry portfolio and said "hmm, it doesn't make us millions though, what's the point?"
Yet another step towards total creative bankruptcy.
Never liked or trusted the snake called Phil Spencer and i've been saying all along there was going to be a big cost for MS buying up gaming. I hate being right sometimes.
Gaming would have been a far better place without MS and most of what we hate about gaming started with them. Remember Horse Armour? Yeah Bethesda were going to put that out for free but MS wouldn't allow it.
Microsoft is buying studios with Horrible games, and closing the ones with good ones. Really a stupid move on their part.
@Ralizah why do you use his name to bring about your point. It's not necessary and it's blasphemous. Please respect thanks.
I remember last year some youtuber said that HIFI Rush was a sales failure. It became a bit of a big deal and MS replied saying it was a success for them. It always felt weird how quickly they felt the need to reply to that when Xbox usually loves talking player count.
It always felt like they were pissed that Starfield never got the reception of HFR.
"didn't make the money that it needed to make".
-what the youtuber said
"was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn't be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release."
-Aaron Greenburg of Xbox
Notice the language never responded to what the insider said just broadened the definition of success.
This is turning out to be another Lionhead Studios style closure...
Honestly as the year goes on I am more and more reassured about abandoning the Xbox ship and jumping aboard ps
@breakneck Of course HiFi Rush was a sales failure because when you shadow drop a game no one had heard off on to Gamepass who the hell is buying it? I bet they made more money from it on PS5 then Xbox.
@Reptilio I like Xbox for BC games but now that everything is clearly coming to PS i see zero reason to buy an Xbox next gen. I'm glad i never upgraded my SS to a SX last year now.
If The Verge report is true about the town hall Matt Booty held recently stating that Xbox needs more smaller games that are prestigious, makes things even more questionable why they would shutdown Tango.
As if this situation couldn't get any worse, MS shut Tango down before a sequel to one of my favorite games from last year could be made! Hi-Fi Rush was up for GOTY right?
@Deoxyr1bose Not too defend Tango's closure by any means (big fan of their output; no one even talks about the solid Ghostwire), but just because Microsoft planned to build a fanbase doesn't mean they successfully did. That the PlayStation release was already 30% off certainly doesn't bode well for its PlayStation sales.
Still sucks, but it's pretty obvious why the money men bailed. Still would've helped it Microsoft actually knew how to market games...
@DennisReynolds While shadow dropping is fun for gaming faithful, it definitely shows a lack of confidence — or maybe competence — on marketing's part.
Even that it was announced in a slow paced Xbox Direct (which no one watches) that wasn't explicitly propped up by another game (was Starfield even apart of that one...?) certainly doesn't help dissuade that latter assertion.
Cutting Tango has to be one of the foulest moves done in a long time. Ghostwire and Hi Fi Rush was good enough to deserve sequels.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...