Shinji Mikami, founder of Tango Gameworks, believed the studio would be “safe as long as they continue making Hi-Fi Rush games.” Mikami was asked about the studio’s closure by Microsoft earlier this year and its rebirth under fresh owners Krafton at Gamescom last month.
“I thought the studio would be safe as long as it continued to make Hi-Fi Rush games. That’s one of the reasons I left Tango Gameworks. So I was surprised when the studio closed down” Mikami told IGN.
“Now Krafton has taken over the business, so I feel like it all ended well in the end. It reminded me that if you make a good game, someone will pick it up. The hard work of the Hi-Fi Rush development team has led to a new chapter in the company’s history. I think that for a development studio, making a good game is more directly related to survival than making a popular game.”
Mikami was interviewed alongside fellow designer Goichi Suda, who called Tango Gamework’s closure “a bolt from the blue.” Suda and Mikami worked together on Shadows Of The Damned, which will be remastered later this year.
Mikami is best known for his work in the survival horror genre, directing Resident Evils 1 and 4 at Capcom and the Evil Within series at Tango Gameworks. He had previously spoken of wanting to leave Tango Gameworks long before he did so in order to move away from the genre. It makes sense that he would see the critical success of Hi-Fi Rush — a game he mentored but did not direct — as an opportunity to leave with the studio’s future secured.
Microsoft announced it was closing Tango Gameworks, along with other layoffs and studio closures, in May of this year. In August, publisher Krafton acquired the studio and intellectual property rights to Hi-Fi Rush, with plans to rehire some of the studio’s employees.
