Microsoft has just announced that it’s shutting down two game development studios: Arkane Austin, responsible for Redfall, and Tango Gameworks, known for The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo. These studios were previously owned by Bethesda. The decision to close them comes shortly after Microsoft acquired Bethesda a few months ago.
It’s also worth noting that Microsoft has shut down the development of Redfall. As the company stated, Redfall’s previous update will be and its last one. The game and its servers will remain online, at least for now.
Redfall was a HUGE disappointment. And, once again, the big publishers have lied to all gamers. A few months ago, Microsoft and Bethesda were claiming that they’d support Redfall, and that they were working on major updates for it. And, apart from only one major update, we haven’t gotten anything else for it. That’s why you should never, EVER, believe the PR statements of all big publishers.
Arkane Austin has been responsible for games such as Redfall and PREY. And while I really enjoyed PREY, I found Redfall to be boring as hell. The studio had a lot of talent, but it was forced to work on games that were simply chasing trends.
On the other hand, Tango Gameworks is the team that gave us The Evil Within franchise, Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush. What’s really ironic here is that all of these are great single-player games. However, all of them have not met commercial success, something that most likely made MS close the studio.
It’s a shame really, but the writing was on the wall. Both of these studios failed to release games that could make a profit. I mean, we’ve seen other publishers closing studios that produced successful titles. So, I’m not that shocked about the closure of Arkane Austin. But Tango Gameworks? Man, that studio provided some really good games.
And that is that. And now it will be interesting to see what will happen to Rocksteady. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has failed, both critically and commercially. So, how long will it take Warner Bros to shut it down?
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Shinji Mikami, founder of Tango, certainly did. He left the studio last year. Guess we’ll never get an Evil Within 3 then. Shame.
On the other hand, the closure of arkane Austin is good news. Prey was just okay, I haven’t played deathloop but it reeks of cringe to me, and redfall was AWFUL when I tried it at launch on gamepass (doubt it’s any better now). They pushed pozzed messaging in all three games too, so yeah, good riddance!
My friend begged me and a few others to play Redfall about a month ago and its definitely more optimized but it was just as barren and unexciting as it was at launch.
Friends don’t let friends play redfall.
lol I just wanted to give it a try at first and hope for the best. I don’t think anyone wants to honestly play a bad game on purpose.
I’d rather invite friends to Fallout 76 now than bore them with Redfall
that’s crazy because he actually is very into 76 and after the show I gave it a try for him.
76 is at a lot better state than at what it was at launch
Anyways people shouldn’t expect fallout 3 or NV level of rpg mechanics … Its a live-service fallout, so has some lighter RPG elements to compensate for the online features.
But the map’s kinda large and “fun” to explore whilst being regularly updated and expanded…
I’m glad people are able to enjoy it. Despite its launch and many others of the same ilk, Im sure most developers work really hard on these projects and it must especially suck when you get told its all getting shuttered. I hoped it would eventually be good for people who were into it but I swore off that style of live service game because too often logging in felt like a job after a while.
I feel like Prey gets the right amount of praise. It was a cool game with some interesting gameplay but there is a reason why it wasnt a huge success and part of that is just that the general populace isnt that interested in what it offers compared to what else you can buy. Deathloop has been very hit or miss and even my friend who swears he hates MCU and “modern” games still liked deathloop a lot and beat it a few times.
Arkane Austin was a good studio, these were the folks that worked on the original Dishonored. The reason Prey, Deathloop and then the god-aweful Redfull were so bad was simple, the execs kept sticking thier noses in where there they didnt belong, ie in the creative process.
Wait, they’re closing Arkane Austin, the Prey developer… Not the main studio, Arkane Lyon, the developer of Dishonored series, Deathloop and the upcoming Blade.
Yes, you’re right. John needs to update the article with the correct info.
Dishonored 2 was made by Lyon.
Dishonored 1 was made by both Lyon and Austin.
Guess we’ll never get an Evil Within 3 then. Shame.
No, it’s not a shame, would you have rather them turn Sebastian into a cawksuking JuDIEst rainbow-wearing, Talmud-preaching pedophile phaggot or introduce a brand new cawksuking JuDIEst rainbow-wearing, Talmud-preaching pedophile phaggot character for some ESG shekels?
In case you’re not already aware, Hi-Fi Rush was already poozed with that $h!t. After finding out about that, the studio was over for me, the JuDIEsm death cultists have infiltrated another small apolitical Japanese company and pozzed it with their Talmudick AIDS, Monkeypox and taught the goyim on how to tie a noose around their necks because these JuDIEst subhumans wouldn’t let even the tiniest ATOM of people having independent thought or happily living their lives not bothering anyone without forcing their Talmudick Satanism on every single human being on the face of the earth, so I say good riddance!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/76091cfb1840215e170d552b02f520c857109f82eab02a0597c5b184ee7675ee.jpg
Fair point, MS is notorious for their ESG compliance crap. EW2 did have a few instances of “strong woman” tropes, so the 3rd game likely would’ve been even worse. And yeah, I played through Hi-Fi Rush on gamepass. The game was not bad, but I hated all the characters except for the robot cat. Worst one was the 2nd main character. I swear, she was a literal diversity checklist.
✔️Brown
✔️Female
✔️Amputee
✔️Attracted to another character of the same sex
✔️Tech genius
✔️Capable in combat
✔️Girlboss
✔️”Edgy” (really more like safe-edgy) look
It’s all so cringe-inducing.
Prey was brilliant. Deathloop was brilliant.
Naw, Deathloop had so much wasted potential it hurt.
One of the most generic and stüpid games I’ve ever played.
But I don’t condone those who liked it, ofc.
Yeah but prey was really good, not as good as system shock 2, but it was really good.
I’d rather of gotten the prey 2 to be where you play a planet hopping bounty hunter instead of what we got.
These kind of games sound cool only as a concept. I liked both the original prey and the fake one.
Regardless, Microsoft is not capable of making good games, the real talent left arkane, and we’ll never get a good prey.
No debate about that. It’s a shame nobody else even tried to make something similar.
Indeed, Mr Racist, indeed!
Prey was 8-9/10, Deathloop was 4/10.
Playing solo on Deathloop and Im failed to understand what I need to do, why and how. Seems just like following arrow to where I need to go and the game resolved itself
Seems you just highlighted your problem. Stop following the arrow. Disable it. Think and experiment for yourself.
Experiment matter when I knew why I did it and for what purpose with set of tools the game provided, but many of that just not yet I understand . Im also have the same experience with Control first, but after sometimes it starts to click with me. Cannot say the same with Returnal btw
I’d encourage you to try Deathloop. It’s a really good game once you get the hang of the weird time mechanics. If you think of it like a clockwork system, in the same vein as Hitman, where certain things happen at specific times, it becomes a blast. I went in with low expectations, and thought I was going to hate it. But I ended up loving it!
I just cannot understand it playing solo a few times, so cannot judge if it was good or bad
this game is not fun my dude.
Zenimax/Bethesda opened and bought a ton of studious but non of them made an actually successful and popular game up to now, so it seem like Microsoft is just cleaning the house.
Dishonored series, Prey, Evil Within 1, hi-fi rush ~ are not good games?
Who said these are not “good” games? A publisher measures success of a video game in copies bought. All of these games sold poorly.
Dishonored was probably the most notable game you listed, but noone that worked on Redfall worked on DIshonored as far as I am aware. Two different studio branches. Austin did work on Prey though, which I really enjoyed.
I didn’t even mention Redfall in the above list.
I never said most of Redfall & Dishonored crew were same.
But saying that the full Arkane team—including their offices in Lyon, France, and Austin, Texas—worked on Dishonored 1.
Harvey Smith (Austin studio head) was involved in both Dishonoreds, Prey and Redfall.
But ~70% of the Austin team who had worked on Prey would be gone by the time Redfall’s development was complete.
So … when during Redfall’s pre-production stage, most of the folks who worked on Dishonored 1 & Prey were there.
I never said you did, I was pointing it out for context.
Except Dishonored, all other games he mentioned were commercial flops, not that they are bad games by any means.
Except the original dishonored, Prey, Evil within and hi-fi rush are all commercial flops. Companies don’t care how much hard work studios have put into making a game or how good the actual game is, the want the game to sell $$$. Imagine GTA 6 coming and the game is average at best with poor critical and customer reviews but the game will likely sold millions of copies and make a profit despite being a bad game and it is highly unlikely Take-two will shut down Rockstar games for that.
them shutting down tango is insane… never supporting Ms again.
Westoid corpros shouldn’t meddle into Japanese gamedev.
What about Sekiro?
Activision only published the game in the West, they don’t own the studio.
Activision made them change the name of the game.
Activision was likely very hands off with that game. There was no paid DLC of any kind, know of any other Activision games like that? Even the Crash Team Racing remake (of a PS1 game) had microtranactions.
Fair point but I don’t think Microsoft had that much involvement with the Tango’s titles in the same way considering that they started development at the same time.
You mean “never supporting xbox studios again”
Seriously! I liked a lot of their games and looked forward to playing Ghostwire. I can understand the others but shutting down Tango is a damn shame.
Can y”all not understand that all Microsoft wants to do is make a HALO universe with cash boxes. They really don’t give a damn about a damn
They really are making that abundantly clear now aren’t they?
No, they are working on way more than another Halo game. They are working on games that will actually sell.
Nothing but Forza sells
Exactly! Their games were good…Arkane + Redfall disaster is understandable. But Tango?!
“them shutting down tango is insane… never supporting Ms again”
I kinda agree with MS though, Tango without Mikami and Takeuchi is kinda lame. without them they would be making MMOs and mobile games.
What! First I’ve heard of this! I wonder if Mikami returns to CapCom now.
Didn’t he left after the release of Hi-Fi Rush?
Microsoft made the right choice. None of these I.Ps were appealing anyway.
No Ghost Wire Tokyo 2 then i loved the game many said it was to linier good action never let you get board and great graphcs what a shame thay made money but cant be enough for microsoft as normal profit before the consumer
So crazy but I guess from a corporate perspective it makes sense. They inherited a foreign studio from the acquisition that makes at the very least very decent titles that people have mostly enjoyed. Its probably a lot easier for them to just close the studio and write them off with accounting than to continue the partnership or properly part ways. I’m sure most of the devs will end up back together under some different name and formation sadly that it had to take place like that.
Im also kinda split on the Redfall decision because on one hand I get just cutting your losses with that because how many players were still playing Redfall actually looking forward to get to use all the new characters anyway? Sure there is the principle of the promise of additional content and support but I just have a hard time believing people were genuinely looking forward to more content for that game.
I saw you added a take about Deathloop and while I disagree about it being boring, something about the game just felt not fun in the same way that Dishonored and Prey were. I think I’d give it more of an honest try if it wasnt one of those games that act up if you tab out.
hm dishonered and prey were a blast for me ymmv I guess.
no i meant I liked those. Its that deathloop didnt click for me.
Arkane Austin sucked so good riddance. Definitely sad to see Tango Gameworks go though, Ghostwire was mediocre from everything I saw, but I really enjoyed The Evil Within games. Sure they’re janky, but they were a fun mix of action and survival horror.
For the cost of gamepass or on a discount I’d recommend Ghostwire Tokyo. It has a cool aesthetic and the gameplay loop is mostly fun with interesting side diversions and combat. Definitely not a $60/70 title at all but I enjoyed my time with it after getting it on discount.
I got it for free on Epic, might give it a go at some point.
for free, its def worth a try at the very least.
Delete it while you still remember.
It will spread cancer throughout your entire library.
Can’t make normal games for normal people, can’t allow talented staff, just want money by any means necessary in that f**k*d up totaled country. Mikami knew this, that’s why he left. Xbox has no respect for games and the people that make them. If only Sony would acknowledge this and finally move its HQ back to japan to save itself.
Deathloop was developed by Arkane Lyon, not Arkane Austin. Congrats for the web, I love It. Writing from Malaga (Spain)
MS sucks.
Austin didn’t work on Deathloop, that was Arkane Lyon, the main studio.
Ah, yes. Microsoft continues its long running legacy of “Buy and Destroy”.
JFC…. someone buy Microsoft, and shut them down, already.
Colour me suprised, we all knew this was coming.
But to cull Arkane for Redfall is taking the piss, the game in the beginning had a clear goal and Bethesda/M$ f**ked it up by letting excutives interfere with the original game that were never planned, eg GaaS implentation.
“we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with respect and compassion. ”
Its not them I have an issue with, its the f**king execs…they are the ones that should have been fired.
Oh no!
Anyway…
Big US tech companies like Microsoft are at their limits of what the rest of the world will accept.
Trillion $ tech companies, and yet these companies want more more and more in the name of pure greed.
Big Tech buys up foreign companies just to destroy them to stiffle competition.
This phenomenon is called digital colonialism.
Microsoft is just the unofficial tech arm of the USA government.
world gov really, rest are just pawns of the moment.
In particular, it’s the US military-industrial complex which is financing alot of forward-looking advancements in the tech-sector.
On the other hand, open-source software like the Linux kernel also indirectly benefits from these investments, since Microsoft has become one of its greatest sponsors, among other big US corporations.
You just have to take the good with the bad, I guess…
Er no, its called monopoly abuse, which once upon a time used to be illegal. And if the FCC are successful, it will be again, and maybe then we can start to have fair markets and less abuse of customers.
Firstly, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, which is Bethesda’s parent company.
Secondly, the acquisition was completed on March 9th, 2021 (according to Wikipedia). That was over 3 years ago. Microsoft Game Studios acquired Activision/Blizzard a few months ago.
Shutting down Tango gameworks is the most DISGUSTING most disrespectful move a rich company would do to a talented studio like this after how well received Hi-Fi Rush , F U M$
not really they are not talented and their games didnt sell.
yeah but, you thought star field was a fun game.
No i said that because i like space games and i always wanted a game like this, i am gonna enjoy it, turns out it was super boring and sucked. It was basically a “my standards were low but holy fck”. That being said it still sold much better than those games, so why downvote me? Its like downvoting truth because you dont like reality.
They’re responsible for Redfall?
Shoot them in the dïck!
Also, yeah, close the fücking studio already!
Not that simple, Redfall was actually Microsoft idea in the first place.
Arkane didn’t want to do it, they don’t like multiplayer /live service games. So they botched the development on purpose more or less.
And this is what they got. I bet most of the good devs were already out of Arkane Austin at the moment of closure.
Redfall wasnt Microsoft’s Idea. Zenimax/Bethesda Softworks stuck them with that before the acquisition process. Microsoft just didnt tell them to stop because the game was almost close to “completion” and they needed fodder for gamepass.
Right, got this ugly history mixed up.
Don’t bother, it happens!
Fewer studios should spell better or at least decent games, cause we’re having none for a couple of years now.
Doubtful, the game industry has become unsustainable, especially with the AAA games.
Indeed, unfortunately.
When Redfall was green lighted 70% of the staff that worked there left.
Good for them. Hope the other portion gone out in time as well.
Tango Gameworks was a good studio so WTF are they doing ?
Burning down their own portfolio
Ghostwire; Tokyo was good game.
Yeap! A cool enough game. Kinda repetitive, but cool indeed.
Far Cry: Tokyo Ghosts.
LOL
Sort of.
I played Hi-Fi rush on a free month of Gamepass. That game was terrible.
Microsoft, where game companies go to die. Typical of Microsoft. Buy something and dump it. Microsoft should get out of pc gaming and stick to the their buggy Windows 11.
This was I wanted them to buy Bethesda and Activision, they’re going to run both companies to the ground with their terrible management which has becoke legendary, lol.
Quit your whining. Sony also makes these hard decisions as well.
You’re really gonna bootlick a trillion dollar corporation?
And nothing of value was lost
Saw this coming from miles away back when they bought Bethesda.
They will run 90 percent of these studios to the ground by driving the talent (white men) away, and forcing blacks/browns/women/tr4nnies into these studios.
If someone thinks I’m being racist, I dare you to run a successful company by employing Indians, Pakis, and Blacks.
Hahaha, good.
https://media2.giphy.com/media/l3E6uhDAN3W7vylji/giphy-downsized-small.mp4 https://media3.giphy.com/media/T3Vx6sVAXzuG4/giphy-downsized-small.mp4 https://media0.giphy.com/media/tMyCJmeXHBetq/giphy-downsized-small.mp4
So how about the promised 100 dollars extra heroes for Redfall? Any news for refunds?
Maybe this is to put the pressure on Bethesda for their next games. Because damn Starfield sure was a pile of garbage.
or because Bill Gates gave a heads up to Microsoft that his next planned bs fake pandemic is right around the corner and it’s pointless keeping all those people on payroll
Anything that gives MS a smaller footprint in the gaming world is good news to me.
I really enjoyed the first The Evil Within title due to it’s punishing gameplay but the second was too easy. Ghostwire Tokyo offered dull gameplay which matched it’s graphics after all it came after CP2077. Redfall comes in at Mostly Negative (2,126) 36% on Steam.
Looks like Microsoft made a good decision for once.
Classic Microsoft
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/abc05b57eb9b76b483bd986171c030e1cb67d5cc4218996e812eaa918a69b432.jpg
The sad thing is the realization of how much effort it took to actually persuade Balmer and Gates to try the gaming division in the first place.
I really enjoyed the first The Evil Within title due to it’s punishing gameplay but the second was too easy. Ghostwire Tokyo offered dull gameplay which matched it’s graphics after all it came after CP2077. Redfall comes in at Mostly Negative (2,126) 36% on Steam.
Looks like Microsoft made a good decision for once.
EW 1 is sitll superior than EW 2 in my opinion. Hi-Fi Rush was really well put together. Sometimes I just don’t understand these decisions, sure RedFall was a stinker but there other games were decent if not well received. it’s a shame.
The same old embrace, extend, extinguish model. This is what they wanna do with pcgaming as well
Good.
Unrelated but since there’s a shortage of devs to make Fallout content … they could’ve asked Tango or Austin or both to make a new Fallout game (doesn’t have to be a full-blown RPG) … fans would’ve gobbled it up after watching Prime’s FO season 2 … and it would’ve been a nice experiment to check the feasibility of having Fallout venture into non-RPG genres (like it was done before during Interplay days).
This is what I would’ve guessed/suggested from past statements from Xbox & co., that you can experiment with new ideas (using new or existing IPs) at current Xbox ecosystem.
But … after axing Tango & Austin … don’t know if Xbox is still open to such experimentations.
Fallout ended with Interplay imo.
New Vegas will also never happen again with the state Obsidian is in.