Microsoft Shutters Both Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks
As part of a massive restructuring within Bethesda, now owned by Xbox, several studios are being combined into larger teams while others are being completely shut down. The two hardest hit are Tango Gameworks, known for The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush, and Arkane’s Austin studio who made last year’s ‘Redfall’. According to employees, this news was relayed via an email to all affected staff- with some members joining other teams such as Zenimax Online and Bethesda as a whole. Other studios affected include mobile developer Alpha Dog Studios who made the recent ‘Mighty Doom’.
The studios shuttering will be made effective immediately- which has left many fans wondering about the future of these studios’ franchises. Most notably, with Tango Gameworks being closed, there is little hope for any sequel or DLC for last year’s hit rhythm action game ‘Hi-Fi Rush any time soon. In a similar position is Arkane Austin’s ‘Redfall’, which was a disaster when it launched last year with frequent bugs and repetitive gameplay that let Dishonored and Deathloop fans with a bad taste in their mouth. Since then, free updates have improved the game but, unfortunately, these will cease alongside the closure of the studio. Bethesda has announced that the additional characters promised to deluxe edition owners would be implemented but any other DLC has been scrapped.
The reasoning behind these layoffs and closures (which are part of an increasingly worrying trend within the gaming industry) were all related to ‘reprioritization’ according to the email sent to staff. Matt Booty (head of Xbox Games Studios), who sent the email, stated the following:
“Today I’m sharing changes we are making to our Bethesda and ZeniMax teams. These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades. To double down on these franchises and invest to build new ones requires us to look across the business to identify the opportunities that are best positioned for success. This reprioritization of titles and resources means a few teams will be realigned to others and that some of our colleagues will be leaving us.”
With this reprioritization of larger, more profitable franchises such as Fallout and the Elder Scrolls, a lot of smaller projects are being thrown to the side as Microsoft desperately tries to put out bigger exclusives to compete with Nintendo and PlayStation. This news comes just months after laid off nearly 2,000 employees from other sectors earlier this year and bumps up the layoffs from this year to be above 2023- which was already a historic high for the series. Expect Microsoft and Xbox to make an official public announcement regarding the situation within the coming days.
