Yesterday it was announced that Microsoft had closed Tango Gameworks, the studio behind Ghostwire: Tokyo, The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush. The news has attracted a lot of criticism from fans on social media in both Japan and across the globe. Former employees of Tango Gameworks shared their reactions to the sudden closure on X, giving insight into what it was like to work on Hi-Fi Rush.

仕事は大体楽しいけど、
Hi-Fi rushが紛れもなくこれまでで1番楽しい仕事でした?

本当にゲーム面白いですし、
カットシーンアニメーションの凄さも見てほしいです…
プレイしたらスタッフの情熱が伝わると思います！

こいつ急に解雇されて可哀想だなって思った方、是非やってください！笑 https://t.co/H5YBTWXWw2
— いっすー (@ishi_maya) May 8, 2024

Post translation: My work is mostly fun, but working on Hi-Fi Rush was hands down the most enjoyable job I’ve ever had.
It’s a truly interesting game, and I’d like everyone to see how cool the cutscene animations are… I think you’ll be able to feel our passion when you play the game! If you’re feeling sorry for this guy who suddenly lost his job, please give the game a go! Lol

The poster of the tweet above is Yosuke Ishikawa, a 3D artist who until recently worked at Tango Gameworks. A presentation in which he demonstrates his work on The Evil Within 2 can be found on Youtube. More recently, he worked on the 2023 rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush, which he describes in the tweet above as the most enjoyable job he has ever had. Ishikawa hopes that people who have yet to play the game will pick it up and appreciate all the effort that Tango Gameworks put into the title. Some of Ishikawa’s vibrant character art for Hi-Fi Rush, among other Tango Gameworks games, can be found on his Artstation page.

Another character modeler who worked on Hi-Fi Rush expressed similar sentiments to Ishikawa:

Hi-Fi Rushがトレンドで表示されたけど全然嬉しく無いじゃん(笑)

でも折角なので遊んだ事ない人は是非手に取って遊んで欲しいなー本当に頑張って作ったんで！

もう理由なんて何でも良いんでこのツイート見た人には何かの縁と思って遊んでみて下さい?
— まつん (@kazuyama260) May 7, 2024

Post translation: Hi-Fi Rush showed up as trending on X but I’m not happy about it at all (lol). But I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who hasn’t played the game yet to give it a try. I really worked hard on it!
Whatever the reason, if you see this tweet, please think of it as some kind of fate and play the game.

Tango Gameworks was founded by Shinji Mikami in 2010, who recently explained why he left the studio last year to establish his new company Kamuy (Related Article). Later acquired by ZeniMax Media and coming under the Bethesda umbrella, Tango Gameworks’s ownership transferred to Microsoft when Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in 2021. Mikami also shared his brief reaction to the closure.