As if the sad news of the closure of Tango Gameworks and three other studios that broke Tuesday wasn’t enough, Bloomberg has brought more news about what is happening internally within the walls of the Xbox division at Microsoft. Namely, Tango Gameworks was put on the chopping block because they pitched the idea of sequel their successful new IP ‘Hi-Fi Rush,’ prompting more employees to join in.
What makes it even funnier is that Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, told employees in a town hall on Wednesday that ‘We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,’ mere hours after closing the studio that gave them their most praised game, ‘Hi-Fi Rush.’
Microsoft’s decision to let go of the studio that gave them exactly what their Head of Studios is asking for is beyond ironic and their only excuse is that the leaders across the division for feeling understaffed, and their answer to that is to cut loose their most talented studios instead of admitting that they bit off more than they could chew.
It’s not just Tango Gameworks; Arkane Studios was also pitching another single-player game, similar to their successful title Dishonored. However, after Microsoft forced them to make Redfall, which was a disastrous release, and they were looking to hire more people to make these games. But they too faced the same axe due to Microsoft’s greedy ambitions of pushing the gaming industry into a service model like GamePass.
Microsoft is not experiencing its finest moments right now, and they are losing the faith of the gaming community quite quickly with their recent actions. They are hinting at more cuts coming, which makes us wonder: are we approaching the end of AAA gaming, as all companies now seem to prioritize quick cash grabs with ‘smaller games that give you awards’?
