Bethesada announced today huge cuts to Bethesda’s collection of studios. That includes Redfall developer Arkane Austin, as well as The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo developer Tango Gameworks. Per IGN, the beleaguered Redfall will have its development ceased, thereby not receiving its promised updates, including an offline mode and new character DLC. Redfall will remain online to play, and Microsoft will provide a “make-good” offer for those who bought the Hero DLC.
The other Arkane studio, Arkane Lyon, which is currently working on Marvel’s Blade, survived the cuts, as did Machine Games, which is currently working on Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Starfield) also survived the cuts. DOOM developer id Software was unaffected.
According to IGN, an email to staff sent by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, had Microsoft blame the cuts on a “reprioritization of titles and resources”.
“These changes are not a reflection of the creativity and skill of the talented individuals at these teams or the risks they took to try new things,” stated Booty. “I acknowledge that these changes are also disruptive to the various support teams across ZeniMax and Bethesda that bring our games to market. We are making these tough decisions to create capacity to increase investment in other parts of our portfolio and focus on our priority games.”
The news leaves The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo franchises in limbo, despite rumours of sequels for both. Tango Gameworks’ closure comes just over a year after its founder, Shinji Mikami, left the studio. Mikami has since founded a new studio, Kamuy.
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