Xbox Says They Need Games Like Hi-Fi RUSH One Day After Closing Its Studio Tango Gameworks 

Just one day after the sudden announcement of Tango Gameworks along with 3 other studios closing down, Microsoft’s Xbox said they need games like Hi-Fi RUSH.

In a town hall held to discuss the future of the company, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, said “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards”, according to internal remarks shared with The Verge.

This came after Xbox had just announced the shutdown of Tango Gameworks, the Japan-based studio behind the small, prestigious, and critically acclaimed title Hi-Fi RUSH.

Hi-Fi RUSH was a massive surprise hit last year, shadow-dropped by Bethesda, and quickly received much praise for its creativity.

This remark was also shared by Aaron Greenberg, vice president of Xbox games marketing, who wrote on Twitter/X, saying Hi-Fi RUSH was a “breakout hit”.

Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.

— Aaron Greenberg U (@aarongreenberg) April 21, 2023

This rhythm-based hack-and-slash swiftly achieved 2 million sales by March 2023, 2 months after its release. By August 2023, the game has already reached 3 million players between purchased copies and Game Pass subscriptions.

The game was also nominated for many accolades and won Best Audio Design during last year’s The Game Awards.

Not only was Hi-Fi RUSH described as the smaller award-winning game that Xbox seeks, but it also represents the company’s long-time commitment to bringing exclusives by Japanese developers to its platform.

Before its closure, Bloomberg even reported that Tango Gameworks was in the process of pitching a sequel to Hi-Fi RUSH.

In the report by The Verge, Booty then also suggests that the leaders at Xbox did not recognize what they had on their hands.

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