Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks have been shut down

A new video has been released for Minecraft's 15th anniversary starring both Jason Momoa and Jack Black, both of whom are wielding what appear to be props from the upcoming movie.

Hi-Fi Rush is set for its final patch later today, May 15, amid the closure of its developer Tango Gameworks.

This week, Microsoft and Bethesda announced that they would be closing down multiple game development studios under their umbrella. These include Alpha Dog Games, maker of Mighty Doom, and Arkane Austin, developer of the disastrous Redfall among others. In the gaming industry, the conventional wisdom has long been held that bad games sink you and great games save you, which would lead many to drawing an unfortunate line between Redfall’s reception and Arkane Austin’s closure — but immediately stops supporting that conclusion when you get to Tango Gameworks.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has reportedly said Microsoft needs smaller games that will earn it «prestige and awards» a day after shutting down Tango Gameworks.

Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks were reportedly in the process of pitching sequels to Dishonored and Hi-Fi Rush before Xbox’s sudden closure of their studios on Tuesday. This news comes after learning more details surrounding the shutdown of three ZeniMax Media subsidiary studios, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks prominently among them.

The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft's Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn't finished.

Like us, you’re probably still reeling from Tuesday’s news that Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango and Prey’s Arkane Austin are getting shuttered by Microsoft. According to Bloomberg, these closures were just a part of a “widespread cost-cutting initiative” that’s still underway. All signs point towards more cuts to come, basically. ZeniMax studios seem to be the main target.

One day after closing Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Xbox studios boss Matt Booty reportedly told staff the company needs “smaller games that give us prestige and awards”.

Arkane Austin is officially no more, and Studio Director Harvey Smith, who has worked at Arkane for over sixteen years, shared all his emotions in a long and heartfelt thread on Twitter/X. Over the course of his 30-plus-year-long career in the industry, Smith was a lead designer at Ion Storm on Deus Ex, a director on Deus Ex: Invisible War, and a designer on Thief: Deadly Shadows. After a brief stint at Midway, he joined Arkane to be a creative director, designer, and writer on the first Dishonored.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), and Alpha Dog Games, while Roundhouse Studios will be absorbed into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online. This follows nearly 1,900 layoffs earlier in the year, largely from Microsoft’s newly-acquired Activision Blizzard teams. Unfortunately, it seems this isn’t the end of the pain.

The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn't finished. 

Xbox rocked the games industry earlier this week by closing down Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, two developers responsible for beloved titles such as The Evil Within series, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the Prey reboot. Pretty much everyone was surprised by the announcement, including the people at Tango and Arkane Austin themselves, who were reportedly in the middle of pitching new projects to Xbox before being shut down.