Today,
one
day
after
Microsoft
announced
that
it
would
shut
down
four
of
its
games
studios,
Matt
Booty,
head
of
Xbox
Game
Studios,
held
a
town
hall
to
discuss
the
division’s
future
goals.
“We
need
smaller
games
that
give
us
prestige
and
awards,”
Booty
told
employees,
according
to
internal
remarks
shared
with
The
Verge.
For
some
listeners
on
the
call,
it
was
a
surprising
goal:
Microsoft
had
just
shut
down
the
Japanese
developer
Tango
Gameworks,
which
was
coming
off
the
small,
prestigious
hit
title
Hi-Fi
Rush.
Hi-Fi
Rush,
which
was
a
surprise
release
last
year,
was
praised
for
its
innovation
and
charm.
The
rhythm
action
game
featured
music
by
The
Black
Keys
and
Nine
Inch
Nails,
with
an
art
style
that
evoked
the
hyper-stylized
games
of
the
PS2
era.
Just
four
months
after
its
release,
Hi-Fi
Rush
hit
3
million
players.
During
the
2023–2024
awards
season,
the
game
went
on
to
win
a
Game
Award,
a
Game
Developers
Choice
award,
and
a
BAFTA.
While
Microsoft
hasn’t
shared
sales
data,
it
was
apparently
happy
with
the
game.
When
rumors
swirled
that
it
wasn’t
doing
well
commercially,
Aaron
Greenberg,
vice
president
of
Xbox
games
marketing,
wrote
on
X
that
Hi-Fi
Rush
“was
a
break
out
hit
for
us
and
our
players
in
all
key
measurements
and
expectations.”
By
all
accounts,
including
Microsoft’s
own,
Tango
Gameworks
made
a
hit
and
something
wholly
unlike
anything
it’s
made
before.
Before
Hi-Fi
Rush,
Tango
Gameworks
was
known
exclusively
for
its
survival
horror
games,
including
The
Evil
Within
series
and
Ghostwire:
Tokyo.
In
an
interview
with
Kinda
Funny
Games,
Xbox
head
Phil
Spencer
spoke
about
how
important
it
was
for
Xbox
to
allow
studios
to
make
games
outside
their
comfort
zones.
“I
want
to
give
the
teams
the
creative
platform
to
go
and
push
their
ability,
push
their
aspirations,”
Spencer
said.
Hi-Fi
Rush
also
represented
Microsoft’s
commitment
to
bringing
Japanese
exclusives
to
the
console.
In
an
interview
with
Game
Watch,
a
Japanese
video
game
media
outlet,
Spencer
praised
Hi-Fi
Rush
for
its
“high
quality”
and
said
that
players
could
“expect”
to
see
more
AAA
titles
from
Japan,
evoking
the
days
when
Lost
Odyssey
and
Blue
Dragon
were
both
exclusives
on
the
Xbox
360.
“While
there
are
titles
we
can’t
announce
yet,”
Spencer
said
in
the
September
2023
interview,
translated
by
VGC,
“we
are
currently
developing
new
games
in
collaboration
with
Japanese
companies.”
It’s
worth
wondering
if
that’s
still
the
plan
now
that
Tango
is
shut
down.
Right
now,
small
single-player
games
like
Hi-Fi
Rush
are
having
a
huge
moment.
Balatro,
a
poker
roguelike
made
by
a
single
developer,
sold
over
1
million
copies
in
its
first
month.
Manor
Lords,
another
solo-dev
project
in
early
access
on
Steam,
has
also
sold
over
1
million
copies.
Hades
2
just
released
in
early
access
and
doubled
its
predecessor’s
all-time
peak
player
count
on
Steam
in
a
single
day.
Even
the
original
Hades
is
climbing
back
up
the
Steam
charts,
breaking
its
all-time
peak
player
count
record
just
today
almost
four
years
after
its
initial
release.
While
we
don’t
know
exactly
what
sales
goals
Microsoft
had
for
Hi-Fi
Rush,
clearly
there
is
a
demonstrated
appetite
for
this
kind
of
game,
with
Tango
Gameworks
positioned
perfectly
to
deliver
it.
In
fact,
according
to
a
report
from
Bloomberg,
Tango
Gameworks
was
in
the
process
of
pitching
a
sequel
to
Hi-Fi
Rush
before
it
got
shut
down.
With
Hi-Fi
Rush,
Tango
Gameworks
gave
Microsoft
just
what
Booty
says
he
wants:
a
small,
creatively
unique,
highly
praised,
award-winning
game.
Booty’s
comments,
then,
suggest
that
Xbox’s
leaders
couldn’t
recognize
what
they
had
on
their
hands
— or
simply
didn’t
know
how
to
take
advantage
of
the
success
they
were
seeking
out.
We
reached
out
to
Microsoft
for
comment.
(Originally posted by Ash Parrish)
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