Yet again we have unfortunate news surrounding layoffs in the gaming industry, and with news that somehow hits even harder. Tanngo Gameworks, the studio behindHi-Fi Rush, one of last year’s most highly-acclaimed games that was nominated for several awards and surpassed three million players by the middle of the year andwho we even selected as one of the year’s best developersas of today are no more. Microsoft has revealed that they are closing a number of Bethesda studios, which includes Tango Gameworks, who also gave usthe Evil Within gamesandGhostwire: Tokyo.
An Unfortunate Move for Gamers
Along with Tango Gameworks, other studios being shut down includePreydevelopers Arkane Austin andMighty Doomdevelopers Alpha Dog Studios, and ZeniMax subsidiary Roundhouse Games will now be absorbed into ZeniMax Online. As development will no longer continue onRedfalldue to Arkane Austin’s closure (though the servers will remain up),it was announcedthat a credit will be offered to those who purchased a Hero Pass or the game’s Premium Edition. And also over on Twitter/X/Whatever,Tango Gameworks gave a heartfelt thanksto everyone who supported them, while reassuring everyone that all of their games are still available and playable (and the fact that they had to include such a detail is another sobering reminder about the sorry state of the AAA gaming industry these days).
So why exactly is Microsoft shutting down all of these studios, despite acclaimed titles such as Hi-Fi Rush? Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty sent out an e-mail trying to detail things which basically amounts to little more thanthe “We’re sorry” bit from South Park.The only thing of note is the bit at the beginning where Matt says “These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades,” which can’t help but be read as “Less original titles and new IPs, and more of the same stuff and brand recognition.”
Review: Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush is classic video game action that blends amazing combat in a unique hybrid of genres in with memorable characters.
An Unsettling Trend
What makes this even more aggravating is that it follows last week’s similar news that Take-Two Interactive would beshutting down two studios,one being Roll7, the acclaimed indie developer behind games such asOlliOlli WorldandRollerdrome,which also got them a ton of acclaim, also had us declaring themas one of that year’s best developers,and even got them a BAFTA award a year ago, and their reward was to be scaled down while doubling the pay for their executives.Indie developer Rami Ismail even pointed outthat CEO Strauss Zelnick’s compensation alone could have paid the salaries of affected studios Roll7 and Intercept Studios for three years.
Aside from the disappointing realization that gaming executives will treat studios as being easily disposable, no matter how well they do in sales, acclaim, or both, there seems to be a disturbing trend here: in each of these cases, a studio behind one or more recent hit games is shut down (Tango Gameworks with H-Fi Rush, Roll7 with Rollerdrome), which simultaneously, at least one other studio is shut down as well, but one behind a more less-acclaimed or somewhat controversial recent game (Arkane Austin with Redfall, Intercept Studios withKerbal Space Program 2), almost as if these companies are hoping that reactions to the closure of one will overshadow the other. Regardless of what you may think of games such as Redfall, however, developers such as Arkane Austin do not deserve the same fate if it could be avoided.
Our sympathies go out to Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios and all those affected by this move, along with any other layoffs that we sadly see too often now.
