If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. Today, one day after Microsoft announced , 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 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 .
, which was a , 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, .
During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a D.I.C.
E Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA. While Microsoft hasn’t shared sales data, it was apparently happy with the game. When rumors swirled that it wasn’t doing well commercially, Aaron Greenberg, vice president of Xbox games marketing, wrote on X that “was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations.
” By all accounts, including Microsoft’s own, Tango Gameworks made a hit and something . Before , Tango Gameworks was known exclusively for its survival horror games, including series and In , Xbox head Phil Spencer spoke about how important it was for Xbox to allow studios to make gam.
