In the wake of the news that Microsoft will shut down Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Inside developer Tango Gameworks (along with a number of other studios), many have wondered what its founder, acclaimed Resident Evil director Shinji Mikami, might have to say. Subject.
Mikami did offer his thoughts on closing the studio after a few hours – albeit very brief ones.
“Tango has closed,” Mikami wrote on X/Twitter today. “sad.”
Tango is closed. sad.
— 三上 真司 (@shinji_mikami) May 7, 2024
Mikami founded Tango Gameworks in 2010, and the studio has gone on to release The Evil Inside (which Mikami himself directed), The Evil Inside 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and, most recently, the critically acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush, which surprised everyone. It decreased last year. However, more than a decade after Tango’s release, Bethesda confirmed in a February 2023 X/Twitter post that Mikami would be leaving the studio “in the coming months.” He apparently started a new studio, KAMUY, around March.
Tango was acquired by Zenimax Media in the same year it was launched, and came under the Microsoft umbrella following Microsoft’s acquisition of Zemimax in 2021.
Mikami spoke about his departure from Tango in an interview with Byking just last month, explaining that he wanted to leave eight years before he actually did. He explained that he did not leave on bad terms, but rather wanted to leave room for young talent to grow while also giving himself the opportunity to make smaller, more unique games.
Tango was one of a number of studios to get the ax today in a devastating round of cuts. As revealed via an employee email obtained by IGN, Microsoft is also shutting down Redfall studio Arkane Austin and mobile game maker Mighty Doom Alpha Dog Games, with Roundhouse Studios being absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios.
As a result of the cutbacks, Microsoft has ended development of Redfall and canceled the upcoming DLC, though Arkane Austin has been actively working on a major update for the game, IGN has learned.
Thumbnail credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Alex Stedman is a senior news editor at IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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