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Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush was one of the success stories that came out of Microsoft Gaming’s acquisition of Tango Gameworks (under Bethesda). Unfortunately, despite the game’s commercial and critical success following its launch in January 2023, Microsoft shut the studio’s doors in May 2024.
Shortly after, Tango Gameworks found a new home (-ish) with South Korean publisher Krafton, which seems intent on preserving the Japanese studio’s creative legacy and letting it continue working on the Hi-Fi Rush franchise.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Krafton VP of Corporate Development Maria Park revealed that the company had already hired most of the studio’s former employees, with more coming on board. She added that the acquisition was a rare opportunity to enter the Japanese market.
Park revealed that the acquisition didn’t include all the studio’s intellectual property. Instead, Krafton only bought the rights to Hi-Fi Rush and its sequel, Hi-Fi Rush 2. Tango Gameworks’ previous titles, The Evil Within franchise, and Ghostwire: Tokyo, will remain with Microsoft.
Park and Krafton appear confident that Tango Gameworks can thrive despite the current climate, as she revealed the company’s big ambitions for its newest division, which includes expanding the studio’s projects to other platforms and leveraging its expertise in multiplayer and service-type games to help them with their in-development title: a “co-op online game”.
Based on the interview, it’s unclear if Hi-Fi Rush 2 will have an online component or if it’s a separate project from the aforementioned co-op online game. However, what’s certain is that Tango Gameworks has found a new home that will give it creative autonomy and allow it to establish a new identity without Shinji Mikami.
The 59-year-old video game veteran left Tango Gameworks in 2023 after establishing and leading the company since 2010. Previously, Mikami helped create Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and Devil May Cry with Capcom before co-founding PlatinumGames in 2006. He recently started his own company, Kamuy, as credited on the official Shadows of the Damned: Hell Remastered website.
