Closed Xbox studios pitched sequels to Hi-Fi Rush, Dishonored

Activision Blizzard, which is now owned by Microsoft, is gearing up to announce the next Call of Duty game soon and release it later this year. There’s been one major point of contention ahead of this year’s Call of Duty: Will it be on Xbox Game Pass at launch? A new report from The Wall Street Journal suggests that is the case.

As the weekend approaches, you’re probably happy that you’ll soon have more time to check out some video games. And if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber and aren’t sure what to play, you have a lot to choose from. That’s where I come in. I’ve looked through the Xbox Game Pass lineup and found three games that I think all kinds of players can have a good time with this weekend.

In a development you don't see every day, following the closure of Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, swarms of fans have expressed their outrage by positively review bombing the game on Steam. This reverse review bombing campaign has resulted in several thousand Positive new reviews rising to the top since the news of Bethesda's Microsoft-mandated restructure broke last week.

Game developer Jake Solomon first made a name for himself by helming Firaxis’ revival of XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. In an interview, Solomon told Digital Trends that he has no problem being known as “the XCOM guy,” and he joked that there is a world where he could see himself dying during a playtest of XCOM 17. But after Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Solomon wanted something different.

The latest episode of the GI Microcast is now available in podcast form, delivering your weekly dive into the biggest stories of the past week. The video will be available tomorrow.

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.

A new report suggests that Arkane Austin wanted to make a new single-player game, such as a Dishonored sequel, before the studio was closed.

This may feel like an odd weekend to play Xbox Game Pass because it has been such a devastating week for Xbox. It shuttered four studios that fell under Bethesda’s umbrella, with Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks being the most notable closures. Although it can be tough to enjoy playing games during a time when the game industry is so clearly hurting, it also offers us an opportunity to look back at what these developers created and appreciate hard work. That’s how I chose the three titles I’m spotlighting today.

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.

Ever since Microsoft started on their spending spree of acquisitions in 2018, gamers have feared the worst. Would Microsoft simply out-spend Sony to secure market dominance? Would PlayStation gamers be deprived of innumerable great games? Were they building Game Pass into a video gaming Death Star?

In one of the most double-think statements ever made outside of George Orwell’s 1984, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has told employees that “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” just one day after closing down the game studio that was responsible for the prestigious award-winning game, Hi-Fi Rush.

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.