Video Games

Xbox shuts down four game studios, including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks

Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios are being shut down

Rahul Majumdar

Tango Gameworks

Microsoft is shutting down four of its first-party developers. The company will be shutting down Arkane's Austin studio, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. The latter two will be merged with ZeniMax Online Studios.

The news was broken by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, whose full report explains the thought process behind the move.

“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,” wrote Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, in an email to employees procured by Bloomberg.

Tango Gameworks confirmed the news with a post on social media.

"Today it was announced that Tango Gameworks will close," reads the post. "Thank you to everyone that explored the worlds we created. Hi-Fi RUSH along with Tango's previous titles will remain available and playable everywhere they are today."

Arkane Lyon's studio director Dinga Bakaba decried the news on social media. "Permission to be human: to any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you," he said.

He confirmed that while Arkane Austin is shutting down, the studio situated in Lyon won't be affected by the decision. The developer is currently working on a new Blade game.

Tango Gameworks' last title Hi-Fi Rush was met with unanimous praise, with GLHF's Georgina Young calling it "innovative" in the full review. Shinji Mikami, Tango's founder and CEO, left the company shortly after its release. The game was also recently ported to PlayStation 5.

Conversely, Arkane Austin's last game Redfall was a disaster for Microsoft, scoring a rotten 56/100 on Metacritic, despite a positive review from GLHF.

Xbox will reveal more details about its upcoming lineup of games at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9, 2024.

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Rahul Majumdar

RAHUL MAJUMDAR

Rahul is a writer and filmmaker from India, currently navigating the entertainment industry in Mumbai. With a keen interest in film, video games, and the tech that drives them, Rahul has written for multiple outlets like TechQuila, IGN India and IndiaTimes. He has also worked on some shows and films you may or may not have heard of, although he vastly prefers gaming binge-sessions. His favourite games include The Witcher 3 (how original), and Assassin's Creed games of yore, and he's trying his best to get into more Nintendo games. When not rambling about pop culture in blogs, you can usually find him doing the same in bite-sized chunks over at Twitter (or whichever platform is popular at the moment)!