Tango Gameworks Proves There’s No Way To Win In The Game Industry

Summary

• Even great games don't guarantee job security in the video game industry.
• The fate of studios like Tango Gameworks highlights the unpredictability of the industry.
• Success doesn't shield companies from closures, raising questions on making quality games.

I want to say I’m tired of layoffs in the video game industry, but I’m sure I’m not nearly as tired as the actual thousands of people getting laid off across the world. They’re probably way more tired than I am. One of the big promises of video games is that - no matter where you live - you and other people can have the same experiences at the same time! And some of the video game companies on Earth are making good on that promise by having countless longtime fans simultaneously receiving emails that say their work will no longer be needed! Humanity living the big moments as one!

For a while, we’ve mostly been able to take off our caps and shake our heads, mumbling what a shame it was that these companies are closing or that massive swaths of people are losing their jobs. When one legendary studio after another shuttered, we squinted at their sales numbers and wisely agreed that if only their latest game had sold as well as their last five or six mega-hits, well, then, yeah, of course they’d still be in business. It’s not entirely their fault they closed, but at least we could agree that it was because it was a live-service game that flopped or got an average review score of 88 out of 100 instead of 91 out of 100. That should explain it.

Please Stop Buying Video Game Studios Just To Close Them

Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin aren't the first to suffer this unfair fate.

Nope. Be real. We pretty much know for a fact that even that is a lie. Tango Gameworks proves that there’s no way to win in the game industry. You can make a product that hits literally every possible milestone, and they’ll still throw your team out on the streets and block your Slack accounts. Hi-Fi Rush was basically “Video Game: The Video Game.” It was heavily marketed on Game Pass. It performed well! People downloaded it! Critics gave it great reviews! Both Tango Gameworks and Microsoft itself regularly posted their excitement at the success of the game.

Hi-Fi Rush

Here’s how good Hi-Fi Rush was: some Xbox fans were mad when the game was announced to be hitting other platforms. Again: some fans thought it would hurt Xbox if even more people got to play it. Instead, Microsoft has killed Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, and other people with light in their hearts anyway. Both companies are spoken of in the same breath. “Where did they go wrong?”-type articles understandably poke at - hell - where they went wrong. We have to acknowledge that Prey was good before we note that Redfall was bad, of course. If only Redfall hadn’t been mediocre! If only Redfall had been amazing! Things would have been different if Redfall were the game we wanted!

Redfall

But would they have? Would they have, really? Going by what happened with Tango Gameworks, would it have even mattered if Redfall were good at all? If Arkane Austin had made Redfall a solid live-service game, would the bacon still be in the pan? What if Redfall were a critical hit like Hi-Fi Rush with a happy fanbase and decent download count? Don’t forget that both games came out for Game Pass, a service that’s been marketed as allowing developers the freedom to create more interesting experiences without the fear of sales numbers hanging overhead!

Let’s be serious: Redfall could’ve been a solid hit, and Arkane Austin still would’ve been shuttered. That’s the lesson that we’re taking away today with Tango Gameworks. There’s no way to win. “Oh, that’s just show business!” Let me be real honest when I say yes, I know. I’ve worked on television shows that have been canceled despite them making more money than they cost. The fact that something is overtly a stupid decision doesn’t somehow secretly make it a smart decision.

Despite what the people in the suits tell you, you should not listen to what the people in the suits tell you. Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks are pretty different developers, but would their fates have been very different if things had swapped? Or if both had been equally successful? Would we still get long blocks of text saying that they’ve had to close after “careful consideration” made by some unnamed force? Probably! Because moving the goalposts makes it way easier to defend sloppy financial cuts!

Maybe that’s what hurts so much about Tango Gameworks. And maybe that’s why people are so mad at this little, specific drop in the massive ocean of video game industry layoffs. Tango Gameworks didn’t just do everything right; they were praised for doing everything right. Their own parent company held them up as an example of doing everything right. Hell, some hardcore fans were mad that other gamers might get to experience some of that success. And yet they were taken out back while we were told to wait in the kitchen and close our eyes.

What are these companies supposed to do? How do they stay open? If a studio that made a bad game and a good game are closed in the same breath, what’s the point of making a good game? It sounds like it’s a lot of work and more expensive. If hitting every milestone won’t save you, what’s the point of trying? I understand why a small company would sell to a massive developer: Even a successful independent company is hard to run. Keeping the lights on is a full-time job. But if your new corporate overlords are just going to turn off the lights anyway, what’s the point?

Hi-Fi Rush's Physical Edition Is Still Coming Despite Tango Shutdown

We're getting the Hi-Fi Rush physical after all.