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.
Xbox Shuts Down 4 Bethesda Studios
07.05.2024 - 14:50 / gamerant.com / Mike Ybarra / Tango Gameworks / Arkane Studios / Dalton Cooper
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 started 2024 by laying off almost 2,000 employees from the recently-acquired Activision-Blizzard and Xbox, leading to the departure of then-Blizzard president Mike Ybarra. Now Xbox has issued another set of layoffs, this time combined with significant studio closures that have seen multiple developers that fall under the Bethesda umbrella completely shut down.
As reported by IGN, Xbox has decided to shut down Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, and Tango Gameworks, with Roundhouse Games also effectively shutting down by being «absorbed» by ZeniMax Online Studios. In an email from Matt Booty obtained by IGN, it was explained that these shutdowns are about «prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games.» Arkane Austin worked on the 2017 Prey game and Redfall, Tango Gameworks was known for The Evil Within and the critically-acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush, Alpha Dog Studios was working on the Mighty Doom mobile game, and Roundhouse Games was primarily serving a support role at the time of its closure.
Out of these four studios, the one that may come as the biggest shock is the closure of Tango Gameworks. After all, Hi-Fi Rush was a critical success and the studio's previous games were well-received as well. Not only that, but Hi-Fi Rush was chosen as one of the first multi-platform Xbox games. It's possible Shinji Mikami's departure played a role in the decision, but that's just speculation at this time.
Arkane Austin's closure comes in the wake of Redfall's disastrous launch. The co-op FPS was released to widespread negative reviews and was abandoned almost immediately after release. Prior to Redfall, Arkane Austin worked on the 2017 Prey game, which many point to as one of the most underrated games of its generation. It's unfortunate that Arkane Austin won't have the chance to redeem itself with a new project. Arkane Lyon, meanwhile, remains operational and is currently working on the Blade video game in collaboration with Marvel.
Bethesda is an American game development studio based in Maryland. They're best known for the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. ZeniMax Media, Bethesda's parent company, was acquired by Microsoft in 2021, which then made it a part of Xbox Game Studios.
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