Today, one day after Microsoft announced that it would shut down four of its games studios, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, held a town hall to discuss the division’s future goals. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees, according to internal remarks shared with The Verge.
For some listeners on the call, it was a surprising goal: Microsoft had just shut down the Japanese developer Tango Gameworks, which was coming off the small, prestigious hit title Hi-Fi Rush.
Hi-Fi Rush, which was a surprise release last year, was praised for its innovation and charm. The rhythm action game featured music by The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, with an art style that evoked the hyper-stylized games of the PS2 era. Just four months after its release, Hi-Fi Rush hit 3 million players. During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA.
I’m fucking tired of Microsoft, google and the whole shit we don’t need those fuckers anymore.
Yup, so don’t use them. Here’s what I’ve done:
And things I’m working on:
Hardest one of those is youtube, youtube is such a central thing now.
Keep up the good fight. I’m still trying to get used to OSM.
But we need to sell the small innovative companies to someone so that the CEOs can get their payouts, don’t we?