• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, HiFi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda

haha Microsoft marketing team XD



close this please
Fco03Ej.jpeg
 

scydrex

Member
MS are out of their mind closing Tango. What is MS thinking? So MS buys all this studios and close them. I think maybe the next studio will be Ninja Theory. If Hellblade 2 flops... This motive me to buy Hi Fi Rush on PS5.
 
Last edited:

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
My god...you know whats sad? Even I was pretty optimistic about MS future with these teams, but fuck me man, MS back to the same old shit (I can't even say back to, they never left that mindset)

Whats the point of all that money if not to grow those teams? Shit man, Tango? Why not make an Evil With 3 first from em? Even Arkane, I get Redfall flopped, but give Arkane Austin another chance as clearly not all online games will be successes

....Bethesda was better off without MS.

edit. Only good thing about this, is at least those closed studios have a chance to be bought by a publisher that gives a shit hopefully
 
Last edited:

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
I can't believe there are STILL people willing to go down defending the MS hill. It's absolutely mind-boggling. The power of branding. I guess to many people Xbox is a powerful childhood brand like Nintendo is for others due mostly to the 360 days. But just thinking about having that strong of all nostalgic bias/pull for Microsoft, like I would for say Mario Bros 1, is depressing.
What I don't get is why you care what other people like. I like MS because they put out a lot of interesting AA stuff and more experimental games. And GP is great. If those start disappearing, there's going to be much less reason to care about them. Sounds like they want to go the Sony route and just stick to AAA. I hate that decision completely, but it's hard to be too shocked when that's all anyone on this board has asked for - for the last 4 years.

Sounds like I'll be on PC playing indie games and AA stuff, with occasional AAA releases that catch my eye. Just waiting to see how this goes.
 

GHG

Member

Speaking to Axios, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty said Arkane would remain open. "That is the plan right now," he said.

"They are hard at work on updates and continued content for Redfall," Booty continued, saying he wanted to "support them to be able to keep working to deliver the game they had in mind".

"We had some gaps last year, but I think we've turned the corner coming into 2023," Booty said on Sunday. " feel very good about launching Hi-Fi Rush, we have Minecraft Legends out there which is doing well, we have Age of Empires continuing to come to console... and then as we saw today, this fall we have Forza Motorsport and Starfield."


To be fair, he did say "right now".
 
Last edited:
Still relevant to this day. It's insane how creatively bankrupt they still are. Zero taste. Completely sterile.

It's important to remember that the OG Xbox was a success because the people that built it basically went behind MS leadership to build it. Once Microsoft started pulling the Xbox division into Microsoft proper (2011/2012), it was all downhill from there.
 

Aenima

Member
Hi Fi Rush wins a Game Award, Starfield doesn't.

Microsoft closes Hi Fi Rush dev.

GIF by Tokkingheads
I think Startfield sold well especially on PC. The hype surrounding the game was "massive and growing". Hi-Fi Rush was shadow dropped with zero marketing.
 

bender

What time is it?
Arkane and Tango are by-products of the Bethesda purchase. Studios like Obsidian and Ninja Theory were specifically acquired. I think they'd be assessed quite differently, because we already know those studios don't make games that sell incredibly well. I'd consider them as portfolio/genre purchases. But then again, every studio is a risk today.

I hope you are right and NT aren't the biggest of studios, but it feels like Hellblade 2 production is taking overly long and not the type of game that will set the world on fire. Maybe this Microsoft arthouse studio, akin to Sony/Media Molecule, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them closed down. Worried about Double Fine too.
 

CuNi

Member
I like Halo.
I like Hi-Fi Rush.
I liked many other games Microsoft made.

But damn.
I don't even remember when Microsoft had a real W-Moment.
The management has been daring each other to see who can get the next big fuck up faster, and somehow they still exist.
Microsoft has to be the proof that we live in a simulated world, as I want to refuse that so many people with such little understanding of how to lead anything successful can be in management positions.
 

ulantan

Member
Topher obviously we aren't privy to what's happening behind the scenes. It's obviously not a studio that had anything of note in development and that's the problem isn't it?

Take for instance Ninja theory, even though they've produced nothing of note since HB they've got interesting and compelling games in development. HB2 is creating a lot of buzz and excitement for Xbox and its looking to be a great game.

The Coalition again has produced nothing since Gears 5 DLC but the prospect of a graphically impressive Gears 6 is a big draw for Xbox.
Hellblade 2 won't remotely reach the sales nor playerbase of hi fi rush.
 

geary

Member
Man, you cant catch a break in this gaming industry...We are going from bad news to awful news to abysmal news...From review bombing to closed studios....what's next?
 

BlackTron

Gold Member
What I don't get is why you care what other people like. I like MS because they put out a lot of interesting AA stuff and more experimental games. And GP is great. If those start disappearing, there's going to be much less reason to care about them. Sounds like they want to go the Sony route and just stick to AAA. I hate that decision completely, but it's hard to be too shocked when that's all anyone on this board has asked for - for the last 4 years.

Sounds like I'll be on PC playing indie games and AA stuff, with occasional AAA releases that catch my eye. Just waiting to see how this goes.

I have strong affinity and love for Nintendo which is why when they have fumbled over the years I've felt the most screwed and criticized the most loudly -even if it also means I'm most willing to overlook their downsides as well.

If what you say is true that you like Xbox because of AA and experimental games, you should be pissed right now, not arguing with people dunking on Xbox
 

big fake

Member
Microsoft is a joke and XBOX is a literal comedy.

Literally doing the EA route to acquire and close studios.

They can rot in hell for all I care
 

Mortisfacio

Member
My god...you know whats sad? Even I was pretty optimistic about MS future with these teams, but fuck me man, MS back to the same old shit (I can't even say back to, they never left that mindset)

Whats the point of all that money if not to grow those teams? Shit man, Tango? Why not make an Evil With 3 first from em? Even Arkane, I get Redfall flopped, but give Arkane Austin another chance as clearly not all online games will be successes

....Bethesda was better off without MS.

edit. Only good thing about this, is at least those closed studios have a chance to be bought by a publisher that gives a shit hopefully

Arkane made an absolutely terrible game because of Zenimax pressure (and their leads devs like Raphael left) though. Microsoft's only fault with Arkane Austin was seeing how bad it was and letting that continue its course. Looking at the dev team for Austin, I personally had no faith they were going to release anything good.
 

AmuroChan

Member
Hi Fi Rush wins a Game Award, Starfield doesn't.

Microsoft closes Hi Fi Rush dev.

GIF by Tokkingheads

You know that's not what they care most about. They would rather have their devs make mediocre games that sell millions than make really unique, award-winning games that don't sell.
 

near

Gold Member
I hope you are right and NT aren't the biggest of studios, but it feels like Hellblade 2 production is taking overly long and not the type of game that will set the world on fire. Maybe this Microsoft arthouse studio, akin to Sony/Media Molecule, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them closed down. Worried about Double Fine too.
I'm just trying to think about it rationally. But then again, we're talking about a publisher that knowingly released Redfall in a broken state and killed the studio for its performance. Killed Tango after stating Hi-Fi Rush did well. The only saving grace Obsidian and NT have is that they aren't by-product acquisitions, and maybe the terms of their agreements differ.
 
Top Bottom