Yesterday,Microsoftannounced that it is closing Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks. Most recently, those studios created 2023’sRedfallandHi-Fi Rush, respectively. But long-term fans of their work under theBethesdaumbrella will rememberArkane Austinfor the beloved 2017 sci-fi immersive sim,Prey, and Tango for The Evil Within,The Evil Within 2, andGhostwire: Tokyo.
At the same time, Microsoft also closed the developer of the original Prey (the unrelated 2006 shooter), folding its creator Roundhouse Studios (formerly known as Human Head) into Zenimax Online Studios, the team behindThe Elder Scrolls Online. It also shut down Alpha Dog Games, makers of the mobile game Mighty Doom.
It’s a bloodbath, and it should dominate the news in the same way that Microsoft’s 2020 announcement of its intention to buy Bethesda did. After all, that’s what brought us here. Each of these developers was owned by Zenimax Media before its acquisition by Microsoft went through in 2021. Microsoft’s leadership spent big and, now, the consequences of those decisions are trickling down. Of course, there could have been other consequences — like executives making slightly less in bonuses, for example — but Microsoft’s leadership has opted to kneecap its development output for the future rather than suffer minor inconvenience. By shutting Tango Gameworks, and killing a new series like Hi-Fi Rush in the crib, Microsoft is harming not just the developers at the studio, but its own long-term health.
Sequels May Be Cynical, But They’re Also Essential
The video game industry has always relied heavily on sequels, though in a completely different way than how Hollywood does. In Hollywood, sequels often are often made to diminishing returns. Maybe there was a spark in the first film and, for whatever reason, that special something just isn’t there in the follow-up. Key collaborators may have left, the story may have reached a natural conclusion in the first entry, or the return may just feel forced. There are many good sequels, but Hollywood mostly makes them because they’re safe bets, not because they promise artistic greatness.
In games, though, sequels oftenarethe path to artistic greatness. Developers frequently say that they don’t know how to make their game until they’re almost done making it. Sequels, which often keep the same engine, mechanics, characters, and more from the original, give game developers a chance to make a game that they know how to make. The firstAssassin’s Creedwas good, but 2 is where the series’ template was set.Uncharted: Drake’s Fortunehas great moments, but Uncharted 2 is where Nate found his train-hopping groove. This same pattern repeats time and time again.
Xbox’s Decision Is Painfully Shortsighted
Could this pattern continue today? Not at Microsoft. Hi-Fi Rush was a great, critically acclaimed game that Xbox declared a success, and it was one of the first new IPs to get traction with fans sinceSea of Thieves. But there won’t be a Hi-Fi Rush 2, which would have allowed Tango Gameworks to build on everything it accomplished. 21st century capitalism requires endless growth, and a single-player game that players complete and move on from isn’t the path to perpetual profits.
In theory, Redfall could have been that. The co-op looter shooter could have acted as a horror-tinged take on Gearbox’sBorderlandsgames, bringing in a steady stream of income as players returned to the game with each new expansion. It wasn’t quite a live service game, but it did seem to be the result of Microsoft pushing a single-player studio in a more commercial, live service direction. Unfortunately, the result was a huge, critically derided flop.
With these layoffs, Microsoft has, intentionally or not, declared that original games don’t work. But it has also declared that chasing trends that promise an endless stream of money doesn’t work, either. If Microsoft leadership could think more than six months down the road, they might realize that they’re cutting off their own legs in hopes that they’ll be able to run faster without the dead weight. There’s no strategy here, just the pursuit of that little extra percent of a percent to make shareholders happy.
Hi-Fi Rush just launched on PS5 in March and Redfall reportedly hada big update in the works.
After a year-and-half of brutal layoffs in the games industry, this feels like a breaking point. Redfall was a failure, but there are few studios as revered as Arkane. Hi-Fi Rush was one of the only promising things to come out of Xbox in the past decade, and The Evil Within 2 is similarly beloved. No one is safe in the games industry except, of course, the executives making the decisions about what games are made in the first place.
If no company is ever safe, no matter how successful their games, then developers have nothing to lose. Why should developers continue, forever, to work in conditions like this, where their company can be shuttered even after delivering a successful game? Why should Microsoft continue to benefit from developers' labor if it can’t provide even basic job security? Executives are hollowing this industry out like termites, seemingly unaware that they’re weakening the foundation beneath their feet.
