Microsoft’s wave of acquisitions is turning into a wave of destruction across the games industry. Following the acquisitions of Bethesda parent company Zenimax, Activision Blizzard, Ninja Theory, Obsidian and more, Xbox has made nothing but worrying, if spiteful, decisions to continue its pursuit of unlimited growth.
In a new report, it was revealed that The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks is being closed down alongside Prey and Redfall studio Arkane Austin. While Arkane’s previous launch, Redfall, was atrocious on release - a release Xbox allowed to happen - Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush was universally beloved.
In fact, after years of remarkably poor exclusive output from Xbox, Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush was Xbox’s best exclusive in years. A glorious musical hack-and-slash, Hi-Fi Rush was a stunning passion project that was so well-received it has just been ported over to PlayStation 5 with a potential Switch version also in the works. This was a studio that just one year ago created the game that saved Xbox’s digital showcase with a surprise release.
click to enlargeHi-Fi Rush felt like the start of a new generation for Xbox. It was a game brimming with passion, a short-but-sweet title you’d buy Xbox Game Pass for. It’s not the juggernaut that Starfield is (although that game fell flat on its face), but it’s the kind of contained experience you’d buy a subscription service for. If Game Pass is Netflix, Hi-Fi Rush was its Queen’s Gambit or its Squid Game.
Unfortunately, Tango Gameworks did everything right and it still wasn’t enough. It made a headline-breaking Xbox game, the best exclusive for the brand in years, put a spotlight on Game Pass, and ported that game to Xbox’s rivals. However, that pedigree hasn’t been rewarded, it’s been punished by corporate profit margins attempting to squeeze every penny out of an industry reaching its apex.
As an Xbox gamer, I was thrilled to see exactly what Tango Gameworks had planned next. After the thoroughly inventive nature of Hi-Fi Rush - a massive departure for the studio -, Tango was one to keep eyeballs peeled for. Smaller games, one or two a year, is exactly what Game Pass needs to survive alongside its big-budget AAA titles like The Elder Scrolls VI or Perfect Dark, but it seems Papa Microsoft cares little for all that.
What hurts the most is that if Microsoft didn’t acquire Bethesda, if Hi-Fi Rush existed and was released under an independent Zenimax, then Tango Gameworks would likely still exist today. This isn’t a downsizing of an already small team, it’s a murder, and it seems like Tango has been given a death sentence without a trial. After the acquisition of Activision, Xbox already sliced away 2,000 jobs, and that cutting and stitching is still happening.
All in all, this has me extremely worried about the future of Xbox. Xbox needed developers, and it got them (including through buying out studios), but its releases have been slow and sloppy outside of the one great title that has since had its developer killed. What does this mean for studios like Obsidian, who create RPGs like The Outer Worlds 2 but also smaller titles like Pentiment? What does this mean for 343 Industries, a studio purpose-built for Halo, a series that isn’t doing so hot these days? What about Ninja Theory, a studio that’s worked on Hellblade 2 for years now? What happens if that game fails to sell?
As one of the biggest companies of all time, Microsoft and Xbox have a duty of care to developers. Its studios - talented developers - should be allowed to fail and try again without the threat of investors coming for their heads, especially as the brand moves towards a more multiplatform release structure.
What’s happened to Tango Gameworks is a disgrace, and amongst all of Xbox’s decades of gaming sins, it may actually be the worst.
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