Yesterday, Microsoft let go of four video game studios. Now, as per The Verge, Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty is telling employees that the console manufacturer “need smaller games that give us prestige and awards”, which sounds a lot like Hi-Fi Rush – a game made by one of the studios it just closed.
Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush came out of left field last year. After making horror games exclusively since its foundation, the Japan-based developer released the Xbox-only title in February 2023: a colorful, charming, and more importantly, innovative, rhythm-action game that evoked the hyper-stylized games of the PS2 era.
Hi-Fi Rush was an instant hit for the Xbox platform. In four months, it had already reached 3 million players. By year’s end, the game had received several nominations at the Golden Joystick Awards and even won a handful of awards at The Game Awards 2023 (Best Audio Design) and CEDEC Awards (Sound Award).
This prestigious run for Hi-Fush extended to earlier this year. It took home awards from the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards (Best Audio) and the 20th British Academy Games Awards (Animation).
In comparison, the much more ballyhooed AAA Xbox exclusive Starfield only won two awards: Xbox Game of the Year at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards and Most Innovative Gameplay at the 2023 Steam Awards.
Thus, you can’t blame Matt Booty if he wants to see more games like Hi-Fi Rush on Xbox. The only problem? It just let go of its developers.
Will We See More Games Like Hi-Fi Rush on Xbox?
Tango Gameworks doesn’t hold the monopoly on the “smaller games” that Matt Booty just described. However, Microsoft can only do so much with its dwindling number of employees and studios. After all, you can’t just keep on throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks when you don’t have much to throw at all.
Aside from Tango Gameworks, Microsoft also shuttered Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios.
The latest wave of closures comes a few months after Microsoft laid off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees. This saw saw the departure of Mike Ybarra, the president of Blizzard Entertainment. Soon afterwards, Toys for Bob decided to go indie.
