Image: Arkane
In a shocking series of studio closures, Microsoft has shut down the developers of Redfall, Hi-Fi Rush, Mighty Doom and more.
Microsoft has announced a shocking series of studio closures this week, affecting four game developers at Bethesda Softworks. The studio behind Redfall and Prey, Arkane Austin, is closing effective immediately with all future updates to Redfall now cancelled. Tango Gameworks, the studio behind The Evil Within franchise and critical darling Hi-Fi Rush is also closing down. Alpha Dog Games is being shut down and its recent mobile game Mighty Doom will similarly sunset on June 8.
Bethesda’s Roundhouse Games is also merging with ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online. That makes four game studios in total shutting down abruptly, adding to the year’s increasingly high number of games industry layoffs.
Microsoft shuts down four Bethesda game studios
Microsoft announced that it was shutting down four game studios under the Bethesda banner in an email to staff, later shared online by IGN. The email, written by Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, states that these closures are, “grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds,” as Xbox looks to, “double down on these franchises and invest to build new ones.”
Sadly, these closures will affect some immense talent in the games industry - not the least of which is Tango Gameworks, the studio behind The Evil Within series, Ghostwire Tokyo and the recent critically acclaimed action-rhythm game Hi-Fi Rush. The studio confirmed its closure on Twitter/X today, thanking players who, “explored the worlds we created,” while confirming that, “Hi-Fi Rush along with Tango's previous titles will remain available and playable everywhere they are today."
Arkane Austin is also closing down, following the release of the failed multiplayer shooter Redfall. The studio also developed the acclaimed first-person shooter Prey, and worked alongside its sister Arkane Lyon studio to release games under the collective Arkane umbrella. Arkane Austin had planned to add more heroes to Redfall and allow it to be playable offline, but Microsoft has confirmed that all future updates for the game have been cancelled.
Arkane Lyon’s studio head Dinga Bakaba responded to these studio closures on Twitter/X, saying, “This is absolutely terrible.” He went on to write:
Permission to be human: to any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you [...] Don't throw us into gold fever gambits, don't use us as strawmen for miscalculations/blind spots, don't make our work environments darwinist jungles. You say we make you proud when we make a good game. Make us proud when times are tough. We know you can, we seen it before.
Microsoft originally purchased Bethesda Softworks for $7.5 billion in 2020 and later purchased Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Just earlier this year, the company fired 1,900 Activision Blizzard employees and axed an in-development survival game.