The closure of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Roundhouse and Alpha Dog is troubling news for Xbox’s ecosystem. IfXbox, with a parent company valued at over $3 trillion, has begun cutting costs, then there is no studio safe from potential closure. The most baffling element of this fiasco is that the success of these studios seems irrelevant to these decisions.
The puzzling nature of this situation is exemplified by a Town Hall with remaining ZeniMax staff held by the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty. In the wake of the closures, Booty sought to assuage concerns over the closures and re-focus first-party studios on their objectives. However, the meeting only created more questions for those listening.
Xbox Hasn’t Got A Clue
A quote from Booty during the Town Hall has been circulating in the media, and for good reason. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees. This is a truly bewildering statement considering Tango Gameworks created a smaller title outside its regular fare (horror) that won awards. Is Hi-Fi Rush not exactly what Booty and Xbox are looking for?
Hi-Fi Rush earned a Game Award and a BAFTA, reached over 3 million players and was received very well by the public and press. Yet, Tango Gameworks is now closed. The reason for this, Booty suggests, is that Tango was currently in the pitching process for a new project. Arkane Austin was also in this process, as they prepared to pitch a single-player immersive sim, the genre the studio is known for.
You see, Tango and Arkane Austin would have to hire more staff to create games that won’t be released for years. Xbox is looking for quick winners created by lean teams, they don’t want to continue to invest in games with triple-A budgets that aren’t guaranteed blockbusters, even though Phil Spencer has been saying the opposite for years.
The Subscription Service Model Has Failed For Xbox
There is no longer a place for creative, unconventional projects on Game Pass.
So, even though Tango Gameworks did exactly what Xbox wanted, it was shuttered because it wasn’t mid-project. The thinking here seems short-sighted, you’re throwing away expertise because of short-term costs, not considering how valuable these studios could be for you in the future. This is what Xbox Game Studios is supposed to be about, enabling studios to do what they do best and insulating them from game-to-game economic crunches.
Both Tango and Arkane Austin had dedicated fanbases, even if the games these studios created were niche, the players who do play them are very into them. If an Arkane Austin isn’t safe, then how secure are Obsidian and Ninja Theory? If Avowed had released last year on Game Pass to a middling reception, would we be reading about the end of one of gaming’s legendary developers? It’s a hard reality to grapple with.
The poor decisions of the executives at Xbox have led to these consequences. What is the point of going on a spending spree, spending $68.7 billion on Activision Blizzard if you’re able to’t keep open your smaller, more focused studios? The increased financial scrutiny on Xbox is a result of an ill-advised spending spree and a desperate desire to match the first-party releases of Sony and Nintendo. Leveraging the financial power of Microsoft to try and one-up the competition was always going to have consequences.
Xbox Head’s Confusing Goal Shows They Couldn’t Recognize Hi-Fi Rush Success
Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty seems to want games like Hi-Fi Rush but not actually Hi-Fi Rush.
