Tango Gameworks had planned a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush before the studio was unexpectedly closed earlier this week. According to the latest reports, the studio was putting together a pitch for Hi-Fi Rush 2 to capitalize on the success of last year’s highly-praised action game and was looking to recruit more staff to help with its development.
Hi-Fi Rush was a breakout hit for Microsoft
Hi-Fi Rush was an unexpected hit for Microsoft last year. Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty had previously described the game as “a breakout hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations.” According to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, Booty still had praise for the game during a town hall meeting with Zenimax staff this week, making the closure of Tango Gameworks even more surprising to outsiders.
The town hall did hint towards the reasons behind the studio’s closure, although specifics weren’t discussed. Booty said that resources at Zenimax were spread too thinly, like “peanut butter on bread,” and several studios felt understaffed. Head of ZeniMax studios Jill Braff added that “it’s hard to support nine studios all across the world with a lean central team with an ever-growing plate of things to do” and that “I think we were about to topple over.”
Tango Gameworks was in the process of pitching a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush, while fellow shuttered studio Arkane Austin wanted to pitch “a new single-player immersive sim game” akin to the Dishonored franchise. As both were also looking to hire new staff, it’s inferred that the studios were just at the wrong stage of development at the wrong time when Zenimax needed to consolidate its resources to support its existing projects.
The horrible irony is that Booty also commented how Microsoft “need smaller games that give us prestige and awards” during the same meeting according to The Verge. Hi-Fi Rush 2 was a perfect candidate to fit that criteria, but I guess we’ll never know how well the game could actually have done.
