Xbox’s closure of four of its game development studios – Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Games – has sent shockwaves throughout the industry. The studios were part of the platform holder’s acquisition of Zenimax back in 2021.
Several developers have spoken out in support of the shuttered studios, criticizing Microsoft’s pricey acquisitions over the past few years and wondering which studios could be next. Even Helldivers 2 director & Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt expresses sympathy for one affected studio in particular.
Johan Pilestedt Wonders Why Xbox Didn’t Sell Off Tango
In a recent tweet, Pilestedt honed in on the closure of Tango Gameworks, stating that he couldn’t fathom why Xbox axed the Japanese studio instead of separating it from its first-party lineup and selling it off.
I don't understand the closure of @TangoGameworks, I mean… Why close instead of divest? Surely the team would easily have been able to find a new home. 🤷♂️
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) May 7, 2024
Pilestedt argues that the team would’ve been able to find a new publisher “easily,” which is quite a plausible notion. Tango shipped Hi-Fi Rush in early 2023, which, despite the shadow-drop with zero marketing, was a universally beloved title and accumulated lots of critical acclaim.
If Tango was allowed to keep the Hi-Fi Rush IP, as well as its previously renowned ones like The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo, then Xbox could’ve made some money by selling the studio off, and in turn, it could’ve gone to a publisher that valued it. Moreover, the millions of fans looking forward to continuations of these IPs would not have their hopes eviscerated.
The decision to shutter Tango entirely is also baffling, as Microsoft announced last year that Hi-Fi Rush was a breakout hit that exceeded all their “key metrics and expectations,” so why was the studio on the chopping board? Microsoft has yet to make an official statement clarifying the decision.
Bethesda Devs From Other Teams Are Also Devastated
Beyond outside developers like Pilestedt, those of Bethesda’s internal teams have also weighed in to express their sorrow. Arkane Lyon boss Dinga Bakaba, who is helming Marvel’s Blade, issued a very candid thread on Twitter directly criticizing corporate management of game studios:
This is absolutely terrible. Permission to be human: to any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you.
Bakaba added, “Don’t throw us into gold fever gambits, don’t use us as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, don’t make our work environments darwinist jungles. You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we seen it before,” before ending his statement by calling the situation “a f*cking gut stab.”
Even John Johanas, the director of Hi-Fi Rush, put out a gut-wrenching tweet acknowledging the closure, saying “So this is how it ends…Unfortunately I don’t quite have the words…But at least thank you to everyone who supported us.”
The predicament that these four studios have been put in by Microsoft is no doubt extremely sad. However, Tango seems to have been done the dirtiest by far. They released one of the best new IPs of the generation out of nowhere, and just over a year later, they’ve been closed down entirely.
It’s also worth noting that Tango was the only Japanese studio in Xbox’s first-party lineup, so after today, their chances of success in the Japanese games market may have dropped even further.
