Krafton Revives And Acquires Tango Gameworks, Plans “Future Projects” For ‘Hi-Fi Rush’
Krafton has acquired the formerly closed Tango Gameworks, with plans for “future projects” for Hi-Fi Rush.
Krafton, the publisher of PUBG and Callisto Protocol, said the acquisition was “marking an exciting moment in the company’s global expansion and its first significant investment in the Japanese video game market.”
The press release also made repeated mentions of acquiring the Hi-Fi Rush IP, along with The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Krafton also “intends to support the Tango Gameworks team to continue its commitment to innovation and delivering fresh and exciting experiences for fans.”
Other Krafton developers include PUBG Studios, Bluehole Studio, Rising Wings, and Striking Distance Studios.
“As part of this strategic agreement, KRAFTON intends to collaborate with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi RUSH IP and explore future projects,” the South Korean publisher continued.
Nonetheless, Krafton stated that “There will be no impact on the existing game catalog of The Evil Within, The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the original Hi-Fi RUSH game.”
In a statement to Windows Central, a Microsoft spokesperson reiterated both of these facts. “We’re working with Krafton to enable the team at Tango Gameworks to continue to build games together and we look forward to playing their next great game. There will be no impact to the existing catalog of Tango games.”
Tango Gameworks Founder Shinji Mikami (director of the first and fourth Resident Evil games, God Hand, Vanquish, and The Evil Within) also shared some good news. He simply tweeted (translation via DeepL), “Glad to hear you found a home for your tango staff.”
Some outlets have alluded to staff being welcomed back, but not exact figures on how many.
For those unfamiliar, Mikami founded Tango Gameworks back in 2010, but ZeniMax would acquire them later that year. ZeniMax and their subsidiary Bethesda would subsequently be acquired by Microsoft in 2020, with their division suffering layoffs in January 2024. Mikami would leave Tango Gameworks in 2023, founding yet another studio, Kamuy.
In May of that year, another round layoffs saw the closure of Arkane Studios and Tango Gameworks. While Arkane Studios was understandable after the bomb of Redfall, the surprise hit of the award-winning Hi-Fi Rush had fans raging at Microsoft.
Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty stating just days later that Microsoft needed “smaller games that give us prestige and awards” only exacerbated matters.
Still producing physical editions and final updates for Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks closed on June 14th. It was subsequently saved 59 days later.
As a caveat, Callisto Protocol‘s director Glen Schofield called out Krafton in the same week as the announcement. In an interview with YouTuber Dan Allen Gaming, Shofield accused Krafton of promising three extra months of development, only to tell him in January 2022 the game needed to launch that December.
This resulted in intense development and cut content. This was exacerbated by COVID resulting in 5% to 10% of the workforce frequently being sick, and almost a quarter of employees leaving for better paying jobs.
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