On May 7, an internal email leaked in which Xbox confirmed that it would be closing four studios under the Bethesda publishing umbrella. Tango Gameworks, the studio behind Hi-Fi Rush, was among those affected. Shortly after, the game's player count skyrocketed on Steam, with fans paying their respects.
Hi-Fi Rush – Soulful game, soulless industry
Many developers and players are still shocked by Xbox's decision regarding the studio. Phil Spencer previously said that the studio was doing well and talked about Microsoft acquiring Tango via their purchase of Bethesda, so players (understandably) feel like the massive corporation hasn't been completely honest with them.
Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, initially founded Tango Gameworks as CEO. The studio launched titles such as The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo and its latest project, Hi-Fi Rush. The latter title was a far cry from other IPs: a rhythm game with bright colors and crazy characters, and no horror in sight. Hi-Fi Rush was critically acclaimed and when Xbox shut the studio down, players and fans immediately returned to the game, setting a new record for concurrent players of the title on Steam.
On Valve’s platform, the game will only see a maximum of 200 players per day, but on May 7, following the closure confirmation, concurrent player counts on Steam peaked at over 700 users, with more likely yesterday’s players on console. It’s a small way for fans to show respect to the developers behind the game.
