Head of Xbox Wants More “Prestigious” Games; Reports Suggest More Cuts Are Imminent

Head of Xbox Games Studios Matt Booty made a bizarre comment during an internal town hall meeting according to The Verge, stating that the brand needs "smaller games" that give Xbox "prestige and awards," similar to what BAFTA and The Game Awards winner Hi-Fi Rush did for them as Tango Gameworks' last game before being shut down.

The decision to close down such a talented studio with incredibly creative and well-received output, with titles such as The Evil Within 1 and 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo and the aforementioned action rhythm game, has fans scratching their head, but more importantly, paints a bleak scenario for the future of other Xbox-owned studios.

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Credit: Tango Gameworks

It wasn't only Tango that got cut, as Arkane Austin and Alpha Dog Studios also got shut down, with Roundhouse Games being absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios. Sadly, according to a Bloomberg report, these might not be the only studios closing down or getting downsised by Microsoft.

Jason Schrier writes that Xbox is offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, QA testers and other members of ZeniMax, with staff working at Xbox being told that more cuts are imminent.

Booty did mention that one of the reasons they are shutting down studios is to focus their efforts on specific projects, as he felt the teams had been "spread too thin," with key members of each division feeling understaffed.

A big yet unconfirmed reason as to why they decided to give Tango Gameworks the axe is the lack of leadership to steer the wheel in recent months, as Shinji Mikami decided to leave the developer, creating a brand-new studio - Kamuy Inc.

It's hard to believe in Xbox's messaging at the moment. Closing down a studio as beloved as Tango despite key members of the company such as VP of Marketing Aaron Greenberg stating last year that Hi-Fi Rush was a success by all metrics and that Xbox "couldn't be happier" with the Japanese studio has undoubtedly soured fan perspective on the company.

Still, Hi-Fi Rush or any other Tango Gameworks projects aren't going anywhere anytime soon. You can play the critically acclaimed action game on Xbox Series S/X, Game Pass, PC (via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Windows) and even PlayStation 5. A Nintendo Switch port was also rumoured but hasn't been confirmed thus far.