I don’t know what to tell you right now. I’m utterly frustrated with Microsoft and Xbox right now, following the announcement that they are closing down four studios, and studios Xbox has spent an outrageous amount of money to acquire. Not to mention the damning tweets from various Xbox members, from Phil Spencer and Matt Booty to Aaron Greenberg. If you wanted damaging Xbox news and something to cause people to wonder what’s happening with the Xbox brand, this was it.
— Tango Gameworks (EN) (@TangoGameworks) May 7, 2024
These words are coming from me, and they don’t reflect the thoughts of everyone here at The Outerhaven, but I’m sure some will agree with me. So, we go back to the beginning of 2024, when Microsoft announced that it would lay off 1900 employees from Xbox and Activision Blizzard. That was already damning, but some figured it was the overlap of purchasing a massive publisher, and these needed to happen. I disagreed, but sadly, layoffs appear to be the flavor of the month for multiple publishers. I know to some, this may be to the point where it’s numbing, but it still bothers me every time I hear these things happening. My frustration at the situation and my heart goes out to everyone affected.
Then we go to the recent round of announcements that Microsft has closed four studios: Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios, and Roundhouse Studios. All studios came over with the Zenimax/Bethesda deal, but one studio, in particular, was a massive hit among the fans and had released several fantastic games from The Evil Witin, Ghostwire Tokyo, and, more specifically, Hi-Fi Rush. A brand-new IP that was a massive hit among games and sat on top of Metacritic and Opencritic, yet it didn’t matter.
Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) April 21, 2023
Yet, we’ve had Xbox saying that at least Tango Gameworks was safe as of 2023, and yet now we see that didn’t mean a damned thing. Gone. Let that resonate there for a moment. Tango Gameworks is gone despite doing a great job. Do you mean to tell me that a new IP that kicked ass wasn’t enough? And now all of its staff are gone, and thanks to no actions on their own. They made a great game and succeeded in doing what many developers strive to do, yet it didn’t matter. Maybe Shinji Mikami figured that was a possibility. Whatever the reason, he still left Tango Gameworks shortly after Xbox acquired the studio.
Yet, more than the development studios being cut, there’s also a more significant issue. For years, Xbox has been trying to get a foothold in Japan. It has never worked, and despite trying repeatedly, it finally fucking happened. Xbox acquired Bethesda, and with it came Tango Gameworks. Great! It finally happened. Now, Xbox has that Japanese foothold, which might lead to Xbox getting a partnership with other Japanese companies. But then this happens! And if this happened to Tango Gameworks, it could happen to other Japanese companies.
Now, I’m not just saying Microsoft and Xbox are the bane of Japanese developers. Still, the company has been complaining about not being able to work with Japanese developers, and when it finally happens, you kill it. Who is going to work with you finally? What was the point of acquiring Tango Gameworks in the first place?
This also shows that it doesn’t mean much despite having a unique and new IP. Sure, there was also Redfall, but that game had quite the history. But then Hi-Fi Rush was shadow-dropped, and it was a breath of fresh air. The game industry hopes that more new IPs could also make that sort of impact. And then, after first being said that the game didn’t sell as well as investors wanted, only to have Aaron Greenberg come back and play that down. A year later, the studio that treated this breakout game was gone. What message does that send? Is Ninja Theory safe? Double Fine? Machine-Gun Games? After seeing what happened to these former Bethesda studios, the message is that no one is safe. And that Xbox doesn’t care about developers’ creative freedom, nor have people busted their rasses to create these fantastic games for the company and its fans.
I’m a fan of Xbox, and I think the company did a good job recovering from the Xbox One disaster, and it was on the right track. Then, this happens, and I’ll tell you, I’m pissed. But more than anything, and it’s been something I’ve been screaming from the top of my lungs on pretty every layoff article or podcast subject I’ve been talking about or on, this all reeks of investors and C-suites saying they don’t have enough money or not seeing a good return on their investments. So, heads have to roll, people’s jobs need to be cut, and Xbox, a company that some had seen as the hero, looks like the villain right now. Microsoft is one of the wealthiest technology companies in the world, and I very much doubt whatever reverence they lost over these developers would have even hurt them. Yep, Microsoft is a business; its job is to make money and not to care about its employees, and that’s another huge issue with the gaming industry.
I’ll leave you with this. I’ve seen the tweets and posts that Phil Spencer needs to go, and while a situation like this would lead you to believe that might be the right thing to do. However, without Phil at the helm, it could be worse… think about that. What if all the deals that transpired did happen, but Bobby Kotick ended up as the president of Xbox? I don’t know Phil, but I’d love to speak with him about this, as I feel that everything that has happened has likely upset Phil as well. Every time I’ve seen him, he is passionate about gaming and cares about the Xbox brand. I’m pretty sure he’s having a shitty day, and more than anything, people do need to understand that the decisions to do all this don’t come from him but the people above him. Yet, when stuff like this happens, I don’t know anymore.
But what I do know is that this all sucks.
