Multiple Xbox Studios Closed - Including Hi-Fi Rush Devs 

The only studio based in Japan that Xbox had and they closed them a year and a half after a very well received release. Genuinely makes me wonder what the hell is wrong Xbox.

It’s finally time for gamers to accept that Phil Spencer is not your friend

Xbox needs a team like tango gameworks. This is sad.

This is why I've always been annoyed by people that said things like: "It's a good thing Microsoft bought X studio, under their leadership things will improve!". Just more evidence that Microsoft does not care.

man toys for bob really made the best decision when going indie, cuz why the hell are microsoft buying out all these studios only to just shut them down

Of course we had to get bad news after good nintendo news this morning, it sucks.

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS INDUSTRY???!!! Hi-Fi Rush was one of my top 5 games last year, I was so looking forward to a sequal 😭🤬

More than half the video being a Timecrisis let's play after reporting on such depressing news is probably the most on brand thing you could do for a channel called Good Vibes Gaming.

Genuinely pissed rn. Microsoft really out here being an embarrassment to the gaming industry.

Dang, why acquire all these companies and teams just to fire them? I don't get it. Embracer did the same garbage. Just leave the development teams be if you can't afford to keep them funded.

Of course it's the studio behind our best exclusive

Are you kidding me? Literally just finished Hi-Fi on the PS5 and fell in love immediately 😮‍💨

Man, Microsoft has just been a net negative for the industry. This industry consolidation is not a good thing in any way shape or form. You know what’s really motivating? Showing your devs that they can make high quality, excellent games and they’ll still get dumped like trash.

I am crushed by Tango...Ghostwire was such a fresh game and so was Hi Fi Rush....ugh...terrible news.

I was literally just listening to Hi-Fi Rush’s soundtrack while working and then this shows up.

RIP Tango Gameworks. Xbox did them badly. Love Hi-Fi Rush.

Moral of the story, build your developer base, stop firing talented dev teams, and make more lightgun shooters. Lessons to take to heart.

Even as a non-XBOX user I can recognize, firing talented people that have done nothing but good for you (or just people that are trying to work for a living in general) is straight wrong. I can only hope that those devs get picked up by another studio that appreciates them. Warner/Discovery and many other corporations with this “business strategy” of massive layoffs and deletion of work just for the sake of cost cutting really don’t deserve our money or support.

That high frequency noise is crazy

How to reward your only studio that put out a game of the year nominee?... You're fired.

Typical Xbox. I freaking called this happening once microsoft bought them. This is what Microsoft ALWAYS does

In the words of Chai…. “This is so corporate”

Jon is so real for just stopping giving us depressing news and showing is a neat game for most of the video

Toys for Bob sensed a sinking ship, jumped it, and made for the nearest sight of land.

This is basically how the industry works now You work on a unsuccessful game → you lose your job You work on a successful game → you lose your job

This whole thing reminds me of what discovery did to HBO Max cartoons and Cartoon Network in general.

This is unironically one of the most baffling and confusing studio closures of the past 10 years. I'm genuinely just trying to think of a reason. Just what the hell is their plan if they'll shutter a studio after they release an award winning game following Xbox continuing to disappoint after more and more broken promises? edit: time crisis 2 was a BANGER in the cinema reception

I've not even played Hi-Fi Rush yet and I'm so angry about this. There is literally no justification for this.

Maybe large scale mergers and acquisitions aren’t a good idea after all.

These are consequences of the console acquisition war.

Okay seriously what the heck is wrong with this gaming industry? Its like there are more shutdowns and layoffs in this year than ever before.

I’m a major Xbox fan and most of my collection is xbox related, but this news really pissed me off. The fact they referred to it as a reason to balance their portfolio was so infuriating

Hey Jon, thanks for the vid! Next time you make a video with CRT footage, can you edit out the high frequency whine? It’s giving me a bit of a headache 😅

Microsoft is murdering itself. Between the self-ruination of Windows, their hardware continuing to suck, and now this...they really have fallen almost as low as they can possibly go.

Didn't expect it to actually just turn into a gameplay video but sure 😂

Hi-Fi Rush was one of alarmingly few genuine W's Microsoft had as a publisher this gen, a critical darling and an unlikely success story for a shadow-reveal/shadowdrop title. In addition, Tango was Microsoft's sole Japanese studio, and their work on Hi-Fi Rush was cohesive and synergistic in a way that's rarely seen from major titles these days. With all that in mind, Xbox's decision to shut them down is mind-boggling. Unfathomable. Infuriating. After all the glazing Microsoft has done for Hi-Fi Rush's success, this closure paints them as blatantly two-faced.

This is like watching a show's S1 on Netflix , only for them to cancel it immediately

Ah yes, that high frequency sound from the CRT is just lovely. Love me some migraine induced headache.

Fun idea to include the CRT, but might want to rethink it for future videos; wearing headphones while watching this & the high frequency gave me a huge headache :/

Bethesda was financially struggling before the buyout. They were reportedly looking to either go public on the stock market or look for a buyer, and Microsoft took the offer. From a business sense, I understand why some of these cuts and closures were made. Bethesda made a lot terrible decisions that cost them a great deal (Redfall being one of those awful decisions that ultimately killed Arkane Austin), so Microsoft inhereted these problems. What I don't get is why Tango Gameworks was shutterred. Hi Fi rush seemed like a success, so why them?

Whatever they touch dies

Why? WHY? WHY THE FUQ? WHAT THE FUCKING FRICK?!!!!

bro, is the lightgun a threat? lmao 💀💀💀

Does anyone else hear a buzzing noise?

I'm not even fully into the video and I'm already pissed, I loved Hi-Fi Rush the game was pretty well received on steam. Tango said they were gonna make a second game too, this just sucks man.

Hi Fi Rush one of the top 3 game xbox created like last 15 year I guess? It got more awards last year than what entire Halo franchise got in its life time.

Mergers and acquisitions lead to lay offs and department closures nearly 100 percent of the time. I get that, I understand that, in some circumstances I can even respect that, but I think Microsoft fails to understand that even if a game under performs financially, if it receives rave critical reception and has a cult following, that can pay dividends down the line, and that shuttering a studio like that will cost more goodwill than it's worth.

The people who made hi-fi rush, should’ve teamed up with Nintendo

Wasn't hi-fi rush profitable after it went to pc and playstation? I'm confused why this happened 🤨

I wish I got all of my news from journalists while they actively play Time Crisis 2

Xbox bought Bethesda for 7.5 billion to compete with Sony and Nintendo just to close two of its most popular studios outside the main Bethesda 😆😆😆

Jon's choice to fill the rest of the video with gameplay after briefly stating the news and his opinion says more than words ever could. By the end of the video I wanted to give him a hug, and that says a lot coming from me- I hate hugs.

Tango is so creative, even if they don’t always hit. You’d think they’d at least give them more small budget games like HiFi Rush. Feels like they’re thinking they don’t need anything other than Acti Blizzard now.

After all these years Microsoft still hasn't learnt a thing

That high frequency noise is rough lol

I hope the extremely talented people at Tango Gameworks can find work someplace better than this, and are allowed to create their best work without worrying they'll randomly lose their jobs. Also the really high-pitched CRT sound that only some people can hear is in this video and it bugs me.

Is limited run games still releasing Hi-Fi Rush on physical, they just announce it 3 or 4 months ago

This game studio closures are always awful and feel random. Also, I appreciate your almost full commitment to the bit.

Feels like at this point there's no company in the industry worth supporting

I’m not surprised Tango closed. When the studio creator bounced, I think MS thought the value of that company dropped dramatically.

A shame about the closing of the studios, especially Tango Gameworks. However, that Time Crisis II gameplay is pretty snappy, good video.

What the hell was Xbox thinking?? I honestly have no idea why they made this choice in the first place. By the way, I love how Jon played Time Crisis II for the rest of the video. Looks really fun from what I seen.

Historical footage of Jon going through the Xbox HQ!!!

I knew this would happen once Microsoft started buying studios at a rapid pace, and I'm still shocked. What a garbage corporation.

I was listening to this with headphones while working and I thought "no way he will end the convo and have the rest of the video be gameplay in silence. I laughed 2 mins in after I realized he was serious

Ps5 is a dust magnet, Xbox is a buried beneath an avalanche of dust.

They only needed them as far as creating an ip they can milk, after that they're just mouths to feed and bodies in their offices who deprive the company not of increased money nor increased revenue, they're good on that front. What they want is an increase of those increases, a level of greed unimaginable to normal people. They'll destroy a good thing just to be multiple levels beyond greedy.

Absolutely dumb buying studios just to close them down, but Time crisis gameplay was awesome and I enjoyed watching, thanks Jon 👍

That makes me so sad. I just played through Hi-Fu Rush, one of all my now all time favorite games ever! Devastating… :(

Time crisis 2 is so nostalgic to me, i remember playing it before and after watching a movie

timecrisis 2 looks fun i’m glad they could make a 2 and weren’t fired after 1

So I think these studios were given a difficult choice a few months back. After Activision was acquired a few months later Toys For Bob was spin off to be independent. Likely their was a deal like, Closure or the studio bought there independence with only Toys for Bob doing the latter as this is often the case for subsidiaries when there parent company gets acquired

Alternative title: Jon likes to show off his Time Crisis addiction.

Thanks for the context I guess you felt like adding time crisis gameplay?

While I have only seen the very beginning of Hi-Fi Rush, it’s very clear to see the devs had a lot of experience in their industry. There’s this addictive gameplay loop that pushes you to do better as you progress. So what does Jon do? He plays an addictive arcade shooter that encourages you to get better or else. What this closing tells me is Microsoft has no respect for this kind of learning style. Games like Hi-Fi Rush are that happy medium between arcade-like games and AAA interactive movies. But more importantly, we need a balance of all kinds of games. It’s okay though, because the folks at Tango are in Japan. It’ll be a tough time to get there, but they’ll eventually get to more respecting positions, wherever that may be. I may be assuming a lot, but this is how I feel.

Time Crisis 2 was so sick back in arcade times

News from Bloomberg initially I believe. Excellent light gun video

"hmmm what should we do with the studio that developed our only universally acclaimed first party game in 2023? ah, yes, close them!" incompetence would not even begin to describe the xbox brass behind this. how the fuck do you even come to that conclusion?

That is the best way of padding out run time ever

Thank you Jon for quelling my frustration by reminding me how cool Time Crisis 2 is. So awesome.

Arkane Austin made *PREY 2017* , the best immersive-sim (Deus Ex, System Shock, Bioshock - like) in years.

Knowing the industry this is probably starfields fault

Anybody else hear the ringing sound during the video?

😤 I AM FURIOUS!! I WAS LITERALLY TELLING EVERYONE THAT MS WAS A STUDIO-KILLER AND NOW LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS! Nobody ever listens until it’s already over. FUCK! 😒

We're all Dr. Adrian Mallard today

WOW that is very unfortunate.

Holy moly I hear that crt!

Are you kidding me i just beat this game on playstation 5 last night it was one of most recent games i really enjoyed the ending sequence of this was really hyped and gane general was fun. I was hoping for a sequel.

This is the treatment Tango Gameworks gets for making one of the best games of last year? What the actual fuck

Such a huge shame that Tango Gameworks was shut down. It's also insane that MS are not doing everything in their power to keep the talent of Tango Gamewoks at their studio. Not only does it not make sense seeing as how Hi-Fi Rush was one of Microsoft's best selling and most critically acclaimed games recently; but also Evil Within 1 and 2, and Ghostwire Tokyo were beloved critically, and the only game in their catalogue that faltered commercially was The Evil Within 2 which is a shame because it's still a great game. I also can't hope but wonder what this means for Ghostwire Tokyo 2 as well. Hopefully that will still release. More importantly I hope that all the people get back on their feet soon, maybe Shinji Mikami can rehire some people at his new studio Kamuy.

ACTION I've never seen this game before, but I love it so much already! The quick reload looks rad. I appreciate this video, because it takes me back to watching my brothers play N64 and GameCube on the old crt. Good times...

So no one is safe, it must be so scary to be a game developer right now.

Xbox being Xbox.

Arkane Austin released Prey (2017) and it was a marvel, one of the best games Bethesda edited in the last decade. It's so sad to see that the GaaS politics from Bethesda executives and Microsoft stupidity killed the studio.

Easily Top 10 greatest Time Crisis 2 gameplay vids

The Time Crisis 2 gameplay reminded me of the RU-vid videos I used to make (but still higher quality as I just used my phone camera). Microsoft has been in a weird place since the release of the Xbox One imo, they haven't had too many notable first party games out in a while, but Hi-Fi Rush was one of them and it's sad to see the studio go

Well there goes any hope of ever seeing The Evil Within 3.

Phil said releasing these games on new platforms would give them the chance to work on the future of the franchises and then Tango gets closed right after the PS5 release. Goodbye hopes of Hi Fi Rush 2.

Xbox had closing, play stations had closings, but nihtendo been awfully quite with who theyre closong.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CLOSED DOWN!?!?