tango gameworks was planning High Fidelity Rush sequel before the studio suddenly closed earlier this week. According to the latest reports, the studio is putting together a proposal for his Hi-Fi Rush 2 to capitalize on the success of last year's acclaimed action game, and is looking to recruit more staff to help develop it. did.
Hi-Fi Rush was a huge hit for Microsoft
Hi-Fi Rush was a surprise hit for Microsoft last year. Head of Xbox Game Studios matt booty had previously described the game as “a breakthrough hit for us and our players by every critical measure and expectation.” According to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, Booty still praised the game during a town hall meeting with ZeniMax staff this week, making the closure of Tango Game Works even more of a surprise to outsiders.
City Hall hinted at the reason for the studio's closure, but no details were discussed. Booty said ZeniMax's resources were spread too thinly, like “peanut butter on bread,” and some studios felt understaffed. Jill Braff, head of ZeniMax studios, added: “It's hard to support nine studios with a lean, central team that has ever-increasing things to do, and he's all over the world. We're on the verge of flipping. I think so.”
Tango Gameworks was planning a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush, while fellow shuttered studio Arkane Austin wanted to pitch a “new single-player immersive simulation game” similar to the Dishonored series. Both studios were also looking to hire new staff, so when Zenimax needed to consolidate resources to support existing projects, both studios were at the wrong stage of development and at the wrong time. It is speculated that there may have been.
In a terrible irony, Booty also commented at the same conference that Microsoft “needs smaller games that give us fame and awards,” according to The Verge. Hi-Fi Rush 2 was the perfect candidate to meet that criteria, but I don't think we'll ever know how well this game actually did.