by Brendan Clementz

The snail ran its last race with the smash hit video game “Hi-Fi Rush,” as the developer for the game, Tango Gameworks, has just been closed down and laid off by their parent company, Microsoft.

This decision comes at the same time as three other companies were shut down by Microsoft. What makes it more confusing is that the game had put an Xbox system video game on the map for the first time in ages, and had potential as a lucrative franchise. 

Hi-Fi Rush is a stylized game where players enjoy the beat of rock and metal music like Nine Inch Nails. The game was well-received by many Xbox users, and it won multiple awards, including the BAFTA award and Best Audio Design at The Game Awards.

Despite the reception of the game being better than any other Xbox-exclusive game for multiple years, and a sequel pitched by Tango Gameworks to Xbox, the studio was recently shut down at Bethesda, the subsidiary of Microsoft at which these rapid changes are taking place, along with fellow developers Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Games and Alpha Dog Studios. 

The head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, in a “town hall” meeting with employees, said that “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards.” However, even when Hi-Fi Rush delivered just that, Tango Gameworks got shut down.