Microsoft is closing down. This now means the end for a total of four Bethesda studios. Apparently Microsoft wants to invest its resources in larger projects.
Quelle: Bethesda/Tango Gameworks
Microsoft is closing a number of Bethesda studios. Including Redfall’s development studio, Arkane Austin. Also Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within developer, Tango Gameworks. Developers Alpha Dogs and Roundhouse Studios are also affected. This means Bethesda will have to make devastating cuts, according to tech magazine IGN.
The least surprising thing is certainly the closure of Redfall’s developer, Arkane Austin. The vampire shooter released last year flopped due to technical problems, among other things. The game will no longer be developed further. According to an X post from Microsoft, players who are still waiting for DLC content that they have already purchased should be compensated. The servers will remain online for now as the game is also part of Xbox Game Pass. Arkane Lyon, however, remains in place. The development studio is currently working on Marvel Blade. Furthermore, Roundhouse Studios is also closing its doors and gates. The studio was involved in the development of Redfall, among other things. Roundhouse Studios is now merging into ZeniMax Online Studios, which is responsible for Elder Scrolls Online.
Unexpected closures
The developers of the top-down shooter Mighty Doom are also in trouble. The responsible studio Alpha Dogs must now also close. The purchase of additional game currency has already been prevented and from August 7th even the servers for the Android and iOS games will be switched off, as was announced on X.
Surprisingly, Tango Gameworks also has to stop working. The development studio created titles such as The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo and the rhythm game Hi-Fi Rush, which turned out to be a surprise hit. Tango Gameworks’ closure comes just over a year after the launch of Hi-Fi Rush, considered by many to be one of the best Xbox games of recent years. In one Tweet im April In 2023, Aaron Greenberg, VP, Xbox Games Marketing at Microsoft, addressed concerns that Hi-Fi Rush had failed to meet sales goals, calling the game “a breakout success for us and our players across all key metrics and expectations.” Apparently Microsoft’s closures don’t seem to be about success and quality. In an email to employees sent by Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, Microsoft blamed the cuts on a “realignment of titles and resources.”
Trend: mass layoffs
Mass layoffs were not uncommon last year. This trend appears to be continuing this year. As a result of the closures, Microsoft has not yet mentioned how many employees will now lose their jobs.
Although concrete numbers are difficult to determine, estimates suggest that the number of workers laid off in the gaming industry last year reached or exceeded 10,000. A recent GDC survey of developers suggests that a third of all game developers have been directly or indirectly affected by layoffs in the last year, either through direct impact or observation at their company.
What: IGN