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Well, fuck.

Redfall may have been a major failure, but Arkane Austin also made Prey 2017 and could have bounced back if the company just developed another game that played to their strengths (should be noted Arkane Lyon, the studio that made Dishonored and Deathloop, and is now working on the Blade video game, is unaffected). For Tango Gameworks I'm legit confused why the hell they're being shuttered. The Evil Within 1 and 2 along with Hi-Fi Rush did well! Why are they closing?! Another studio also being shuttered is Alpha Dog Studios, a mobile game company that did Mighty Doom.

Damn it Microsoft I actually thought you might be one of the better companies to acquire other studios given how loaded you are, but damn it now you're just as bad as EA and Acti-Blizz with this shit!

Bah, I'm now wondering if those rumors that Microsoft is planning on going full third party might be true after all. I like my Xbox Series X but damn it Microsoft ain't doing a great job propping it up with worthwhile first party titles this generation. They probably should just start putting all their stuff on PlayStation and Nintendo going forward.

What hurts me the most is that we will probably not get anything like Hi-Fi Rush anymore, Tango deserved better.
At this point, I wouldn't be suprised if they close down ID Software next or something, god forbid.

After that Fiasco involving Helldivers 2, I’m not sure how much better Sony would be as a partner (yeah, they backtracked, but only because they were caught).
To the best of my knowledge, Nintendo hasn’t done mich similar fuckery that Sony and Microsoft did, but their consoles are oftentimes less powerful (which would probably be fine for Hi-Fi Rush, but still).

smaller companies NEED to know that Triple A companies (Microsoft, Sony, etc..) Can't be trusted anymore. They can and WILL use the company for money for like, 1-3 games, maybe 4 if you're lucky, and then shut it down for more money, completely crushing any morale the devs had in the process. Can't trust them as publishers, can't trust them as your bosses, just don't fuck with them business wise, because all they're gonna do is fuck you over.

I'm genuinely fucking baffled by this decision. Hi-Fi Rush was such a charming and unique game and the best IP to come out of Xbox in a long time, and this is how they get paid back? Really hoping Tango pulls a Toys for Bob and just goes full indie after this, because this is beyond disgusting.

Even with Sony fucking around with Helldivers 2 recently, Microsoft once again proves that they may still be worse.

They could've just let at least any of them go independent. Especially Tango Gameworks.

Shame to see them gone, both were talented studios. To be honest though, I'm not that surprised about Hi-Fi Rush. A critical darling like that doesn't always equate to critical success. I recall journalist Jeff Grubb saying it wasn't all that profitable despite the rave reviews it got last year.

Evil Within really hurts, AAA survival horror games are incredibly niche unless you're Resident Evil. It's not that I don't appreciate RE, indies or smaller titles, but some more competition would be nice. Callisto Protocol is gone, Dead Space is gone (again), now Evil Within is gone. I don't have high hopes for the Silent Hill 2 remake breaking the cycle.

Is this the typical "consolidation" thing where they close a bunch of small studios to redirect developers into joining bigger studios under their umbrella? Microsoft does love a good ol' monopoly, after all…

After they did that with toys for Bob one would hope this is what would happen. But it's uncertain if they will be allowed to use the IPS they've worked on in future projects.