Microsoft closes the Bethesda studios behind Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, and more

Sony has revealed the lineup of games joining the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog in May. This month's PS Plus offerings are led by Red Dead Redemption 2, the acclaimed action-adventure Western from Rockstar Games. Other games coming to game catalog include co-op shooter Crime Boss: Rockay City, multiplayer first-person shooter Deceive Inc., survival sim Stranded: Alien Dawn and more. The games will be available to PS Plus Extra and Deluxe/Premium tier members as part of Game Catalog starting May 21.

Best Buy has become one of the biggest retailers on the market, with everything from TVs to blenders on sale, meaning you can pretty much grab whatever your heart desires directly off Best Buy. In fact, we draw a lot from Best Buy when it comes to the best TV deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals, so we know how great of a source it can be for solid deals. To that end, we’ve gone out and collected some of our favorites in various categories and collected them for you below.

WWE 2K24 has been on the market for a couple of months now and developer Visual Concepts is expanding the experience with the game’s first DLC pack. CM Punk made his surprise return to WWE this past November at Survivor Series, and in years past, fans would likely have had to wait over a year to see him in a WWE game, as the deadline for setting the roster for the next game would have passed. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case, as Visual Concepts got to work and managed to get him into the ECW Punk Pack, which also includes Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley, Sandman, and Terry Funk.

WWE 2K24‘s ECW pack is out now, adding new wrestlers such as CM Punk, as well as new hidden weapons.

may not have been the silver bullet Microsoft hoped for. However, it’s still a way for subscribers to play several free games every month. The second half of May sees the arrival of twelve more games, including a major new release.

There’s a lot of TV to weed through in any week, and this week is no exception — something I’m sure I’ve said about plenty of packed TV weeks, but what’re you gonna do! The television giveth, and giveth, and taketh away, and giveth some more.

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.

Microsoft has shuttered several Bethesda-owned game studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall maker Arkane Austin, in order to shift focus on to its “priority games”. The Xbox parent is also closing Alpha Dog Games, makers of the mobile game Mighty Doom, while Roundhouse Studios, which also contributed to Redfall development, will be absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios. The development, initially reported by IGN, was confirmed by affected studios Tango Gameworks and Arkane in separate posts on X late Tuesday. The shutdowns come months after Microsoft announced layoffs at Xbox and Activision Blizzard earlier this year, which made 1,900 roles redundant.

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.

After layoffs earlier this year that impacted Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and Xbox, Microsoft has shuttered four major studios under Bethesda. Arkane Austin (Redfall), Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush), Alpha Dog Studios (Mighty Doom), and Roundhouse Games will be shuttered due to a “reprioritization of titles and resources.” The number of employees laid off has not been specified.

Xbox has reportedly shut down Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Games, with members of the latter team being folded into ZeniMax Online Studios. Layoffs have been a harsh reality of the video game industry these past couple of years, with companies of all sizes laying off significant portions of their staff or shutting down studios entirely. Xbox itself has engaged in multiple waves of layoffs this past year.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has announced the shutdown of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks amidst huge cuts at Bethesda.