Today, one day after Microsoft announced that it would shut down four of its games studios, 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 The Verge.

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 Hi-Fi Rush.

Hi-Fi Rush, which was a surprise release last year, 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, Hi-Fi Rush hit 3 million players. During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA.

  • sugar_in_your_tea
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    6 months ago

    Yup, so don’t use them. Here’s what I’ve done:

    • switch to Linux on my computers
    • switch to Duckduckgo for search
    • switch to Tuta for email
    • switch to Gitlab for code
    • cancelled Amazon Prime subscription
    • using Grayjay instead of YouTube directly

    And things I’m working on:

    • switch to Linux for my phone - I’m ironically probably going to get a Pixel phone for GrapheneOS
    • self-host LibreOffice Online or OnlyOffice to replace Google Sheets
    • switch to Open Street Maps to replace Google Maps
    • trying to drop all YouTube channels, switching to Nebula, Odysee, etc