Microsoft’s shocking decision in May to close a collection of Bethesda-adjacent studios saw Dishonored and Redfall developers Arcane Austin suddenly closed down, before the studio was able to complete Redfall’s promised content. Those who bought the game’s never-to-be-released Hero DLC are now, a month later, being…
Starfield’s First DLC Looks Weird And Wild
Starfield, Bethesda’s latest open-world busywork simulator in space, has been out for about nine months. Bethesda has been putting out updates to make the game better, but fans have been waiting for the first big expansion called Shattered Space. Well, they won’t have to wait much longer, as the company put out a new…
Hi-Fi Rush Devs Fix The Tiniest Bugs In One Last Update
Hi-Fi Rush, developed by Tango Gameworks, is a colorful action-rhythm game that got a surprise release in 2023 and ended up being one of the best games of the year. But the studio behind it was recently closed by Xbox, making the game’s final update a somber farewell to fans.
Hi-Fi Rush: The Kotaku Retrospective Review
There’s a scene late in Hi-Fi Rush, the rhythm action game by the now-defunct Tango Gameworks, in which protagonist Chai explores a museum dedicated to the antagonistic, oppressive megacorp Vandelay Technologies. In it, the corporation tells a sanitized version of its own history, one that glosses over the impact of…
The Buck Stops With Phil Spencer And More Gaming Opinions
People had strong feelings, to put it mildly, after Xbox shuttered Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and other studios, and we share some of our own. Also,PlayStation finally relented on a requirement that PC players maintain a PSN account, but not before colossal fan uproar, and as the dust started to settle, we had…
Xbox Shutters Studios, Switch 2 Specs Leak, & More Gaming News
This past week started with a shock, as Microsoft announced it was closing a number of studios including Tango Gameworks, responsible for the very well-liked Hi-Fi Rush, leading many to wonder just what a studio has to achieve in this day and age to be deemed successful enough to exist. Also, one of the most…
Breaking Down Microsoft’s Very Bad Week
It has been a very bad week for Xbox Game Studios. On Tuesday, May 7, Microsoft announced it would shut down three studios: Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush creators Tango Gameworks, and Mighty Doom studio Alpha Dog Games. On top of this, Roadhouse Games is being absorbed into Elder Scrolls Online developer…
Xbox Blames Too Many Games For Studio Closings
After shutting down multiple Bethesda studios, Xbox and Bethesda leadership held a town hall meeting with staff to discuss the closures, explaining that the company’s studios had been spread too thin and that it wanted to focus on fewer projects moving forward.
Game Pass Lacks Purpose After Latest Xbox Studio Closures
On May 7, Microsoft closed down four first-party development studios it had acquired from Zenimax Media in 2021 including Tango Gameworks, developer of The Evil Within series and 2023’s surprise hit Hi-Fi Rush. It’s the latest round of layoffs and closures that the gaming industry, and Xbox specifically, has seen in…
Arkane Austin Lead Shares Personal Pain Of Microsoft’s Closures
Harvey Smith, the now-former studio director at Arkane Austin, has taken to X/Twitter to express his feelings about Microsoft’s sudden and shocking closure of the beloved developer, alongside three other Bethesda-adjacent studios, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Games. The team that brought us Dishonor…