At the start of the year, Microsoft announced the layoffs of 1,900 employees worldwide, the majority of whom were within the Activision Blizzard teams. Unfortunately, this was not the only wave, since Matt Booty, the man at the head of Microsoft Studios, has just announced the closure of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios and Roundhouse Games, 4 studios belonging to Bethesda . The information comes from IGNwho was able to get his hands on an email intended for Bethesda employees.
Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall)
Following the failure of Redfall, Xbox has just announced the closure of Arkane Austin. Matt Booty noted that “some team members will be joining other studios to work on projects within Bethesda.”
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The closure of the studio also marks the end of the follow-up to Redfall.
This studio will close its doors and some team members will join other studios to work on projects within Bethesda. Arkane Austin has a history of creating innovative and impactful games, and that's a pedigree everyone should be proud of. The latest Redfall update will be the last, as we end development of the game. The game and its servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will offer catch-up offers to players who have purchased the Hero DLC .
Alpha Dog Studios
Alpha Dog Studios is the second studio to close these doors. In recent years, he has notably worked on Mighty Doom, an iOS and Android game. Therefore, the title will no longer be playable from this summer.
This studio will also close its doors. We appreciate the team's creativity in bringing Doom to new players. Mighty Doom will end on August 7 and we will disable the ability for players to make in-game purchases.
Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush, The Evil Within…)
The other studio impacted, and not the least, is none other than Tango Gameworks, to which we owe the two games The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo, and more recently Hi-Fi RUSH.
Tango Gameworks will also close its doors. We are grateful for their contributions to Bethesda and players around the world. Hi-Fi Rush will remain available to players on current platforms.
Roundhouse Games
Roundhouse Games is the 4th studio to close its doors. The teams are integrated into ZOS and will work on The Elder Scrolls Online to “do even more to expand the world that millions of players call home”:
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Roundhouse has played a key role in several of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will allow us to do even more to expand the world that millions of players call home.
Bethesda remains “one of the main pillars of Xbox”
Matt Booty indicates that this consolidation “allows us to invest more in our portfolio of games and new intellectual properties”, and mentions that these changes “do not reflect the creativity and skills of the talented people on these teams, nor the risks that They took to trying new things.”
He concludes his email to the teams that Bethesda remains “one of the main pillars of Xbox”:
As we align our plans and resources to best prepare ourselves for success in this complex and changing industry, our teams across Arkane Lyon, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, MachineGames, ZeniMax Online Studios and the publishing and marketing teams The Bethesda company will be well positioned to create new intellectual properties, explore new game concepts and expand our existing franchises.
The least we can say is that the closure of these four studios is not at all reassuring for the future of the brand, and raises questions on the subject of massive buyouts.