Today, the head of Xbox studios expressed a desire for small, high-quality games during a town hall meeting with staff.
Yesterday, Microsoft declared the closure of four game studios. Following this, Matt Booty, the leader of Xbox Game Studios, conducted a town hall to talk about future objectives for the division. He told employees that the focus should be on producing smaller, prestigious games that could win awards, as reported by The Verge from internal comments.
Some listeners found the goal unexpected: Microsoft had recently closed Tango Gameworks, a Japanese game developer known for creating the small, acclaimed game Hi-Fi Rush.
Last year, Hi-Fi Rush was released unexpectedly and received acclaim for its creativity and appeal. This rhythm action game, which included music from The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, had a visual style reminiscent of the highly stylized games from the PS2 era.
Within four months of its release, Hi-Fi Rush reached 3 million players. In the 2023-2024 awards season, it won a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice Award, and a BAFTA.
Microsoft has not released sales figures for the game, but they seem pleased with its performance. Amid speculation that it wasn’t selling well, Aaron Greenberg, the vice president of Xbox games marketing, posted on X stating that Hi-Fi Rush was a major success for them and their players in all important metrics and expectations.
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
In a discussion with Kinda Funny Games, Xbox leader Phil Spencer talked about the significance of letting studios develop games beyond their usual genres.
“I want to give the teams the creative platform to go and push their ability, push their aspirations,” Spencer said.
Currently, small single-player games like Hi-Fi Rush are extremely popular. Balatro, a poker roguelike created by one developer, sold more than 1 million copies in its first month. Manor Lords, another game developed by a single person, has also sold over 1 million copies while still in early access on Steam.
Hades 2 was just launched in early access and surpassed its previous game’s highest player count on Steam in just one day. The original Hades is gaining popularity again on Steam, setting a new record for its highest player count today, nearly four years after its release.
Although Microsoft’s specific sales targets for Hi-Fi Rush are unknown, there’s clearly a strong demand for this type of game, and Tango Gameworks was well-suited to meet it. According to Bloomberg, Tango Gameworks was even proposing a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush before being shut down.
With Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks provided exactly what Matt Booty was looking for: a small, uniquely creative, widely acclaimed, and award-winning game. Booty’s remarks then imply that Xbox’s leaders may not have fully appreciated what they had or didn’t know how to capitalize on the success they desired.
What we think?
I think Microsoft will keep making small, cool games like Hi-Fi Rush. They saw it was a big hit and people loved it. Even though they closed some studios, they’ll probably work with other companies to make more games that are fun and different. It seems like these types of games are very popular now, so it’s a good idea for Microsoft to keep going in this direction.
