Tango has been saved?

 

Earlier this year we heard what was actually a very familiar concept within Britain when it came to the way that Xbox were handling the growth of their company. In response to a slowing of economic growth and the realisation of an over-investment within an optimistic age- Xbox opted for 'austerity'. Not utter such a phrase to as Brit and simply watch as the 'Winter Solider' style conditioning kicks in and they relieve all the most traumatic moments of the past ten years. Suddenly they'll no longer be seeing you because their vision will be clouded with visions of a thumb headed necro-Pig-romancer. (I swear that makes sense if you're a native.) We know very well that 'austerity' is a continent lie to prelude the following- us with the haves are going to take from the have nots until our balance sheets are looking steady again. And then we're going to keep taking until we're literally stopped. Cheers.

It's that kind of philosophy which is seeing the Game Pass package get cheapened and it's prices rise within the very same announcement. It's that kind of philosophy which is going to see the further degradation of the Xbox brand when key Xbox exclusive titles are shipped off to Playstation later this year and next year in desperate search of customers. It's that kind of philosophy that made Liz Truss lose to a head of lettuce. And it was that very breed of austerity politics that had Xbox unceremoniously shut down an award winning studio simply because cuts needed to be made somewhere and the only other alternative was the executives going without that extra shot of whipped cream from atop their golden-flake lattes. Sorry Tango Gameworks, guess you should have made a successful Live Service instead! 

Since then their hit game, which was the talk of the town when it came out to a surprise release, 'Hi Fi Rush' has seen something of a eulogy among it's community of loving players who seriously flocked to a unique game concept conceived in such a novel way. I even got around to playing the game and I have to say- I have absolutely no rhythm. I struggled through the entire first act trying desperately to hook on to a rhythm that the game was telling me was there simply wasn't. I did half-decently on the first level and every other level after that was me struggling against the core mechanic of the game to just have a normal hack-n-slash brawl. Dunno what's wrong with me. The game looks cool though.

It also won a few awards, and became a breath of fresh air that people needed after Xbox struggled bitterly to prove itself a worthwhile console to invest in, which is still struggles with. Now to be fair, Tango has had trouble getting it's audience over the years with a horror franchise that didn't seem to hit home despite a couple of outings, but what that enough of an axe over the studio's head to axe them the second they did get their hit? I suppose that's the kind of equation that can only be worked out in the alien-like mind of the Xbox executives as they play games with the livelihoods of those supposedly under their stable of games. All I can say for certain was that the decision to punish the successful cast an unshakable shadow over an already beleaguered developer for how healthy they truly are in the face of stiff competition. Even despite unabashedly superior spending power.

As the story goes, the creator of the Tango Gameworks, one of the legends of the horror industry, left the studio not that long ago and that alone was enough to shake faith in the entity. As though the entire worth of the studio and everything they achieved was tired entirely to one man and without him the studio is utterly worthless. Doesn't matter that those developers worked literally alongside him, that he helped to shape that studio to make those games, presumably in the hopes that they could go on themselves without his guidance- Xbox were relying solely on vapid star power to develop entire games for them. Because 'hero worship' is always supremely strong ground upon which to build a game development studio, right?

But we can hold off on the funeral for one day, at the very least- because despite the very definitive statements declaring that Tango gameworks had been wiped off the face of the earth, it seems a Valkyrie has swooped down to save them in the form of PUBG South Korean publisher Krafton. Out of absolutely nowhere the company has been acquired and now will no longer be shutdown- saving the award winning studio and bringing them out of the shadow of what appears to be a crumbling empire in the same fell swoop- what a story! Not that I really know all that much about Krafton and their style of management, mind you- but you'd have to be pretty bad in order to come off worse than the callous studio murderers Microsoft proved themselves to be.

They may be best known for owning PUBG but Krafton have themselves quite the portfolio under their belt to cement them as serious publishers who seem capable of taking advantage of the potential that Microsoft have stupidly squandered. They own Tera under their brand for one, including a bevy of mobile games with actually recognisable names- which is a huge achievement in an industry stuffed with a more oversaturated mobile market than your average English field is stuffed with weeds. They also, and this is news to me, are apparently the publishers of Subnautica- proving that this isn't a studio perpetually married to the online live service grift like so many of their South Korean contemporaries. They might be buying this single player developer to actually produce single player games! (Imagine that: Warner Bros!)

Tango Gameworks does not strike me a studio that is used up by any stretch of the imagination. They are not devoid of ideas, rough for innovation or totally trapped in the abyss. And now Microsoft are going to see them flare back to life and wince at every success they may see in the future. And you know what? Good. Seems to me that if Microsoft valued the company so very little that without one single celebrity involved they found the remains to be worthless- then they deserve the disgrace of seeing everything they cruelly threw away. And I pray Tango use this as a stepping stone to greatness because by god- this team deserves a break after all they've been through.

No-fi Blush

 That's a terrible title

We've all heard what happened to the Tango Gameworks for the crime of making an award-winning game- taken behind the barn and shot in the back of the head- a warning for everyone out there to pack up and give up if you find yourself under the Xbox banner. A move that very much seems to have been not appreciated by the former employees of the gameworks as they've let their opinions be sprinkled across social media, postulating on what might have been the cause but lamenting it either way. Above it all, however, is the big green X themselves doing their best to just forget the problem ever happened and praying that makes it go away. It will not. Obviously. This is growing into a bigger black stain with every passing moment.

Let us not forget the moment with President Bond where she was ambushed with this question regarding the reason for Tango being killed off- at least I can call it an ambush for the way she stumbled a response despite the fact it was the most foreseeable talking point in all known existence. Where it comes to Bond and Phil Spencer, their reticence to speak straight, and to squirm around the matter, has led to beliefs on the consistency of the Xbox brand dropping, people speculating how dire circumstance are and just the all around situation worsening. Hell, Phil tried to marble mouth his way out of a response and ended up saying that it's his responsibility to ensure Xbox gamers are afforded everything they expect with the brand, heavily implying that Xbox is so hard up that they needed to kill studios in order to keep the service at status quo- improvements aren't even on the table!

And in this comes a fear. Probably a justifiable one. A fear that this dire, such to the extent that succeed or fail you are up for extermination, then surely anyone could be next on the block. At the very least Xbox had the good grace to tell their team of the shutdown privately before leaking it out to the press, now if only they could exposit what was wrong clearly it would really help cut down on all the rumour and speculation flying about. I feel there's such an unjust level of secrecy that is implicitly tied to corporate movements for literally no reason- where everything from conduct expectations to success quotas are left to the imagination for fear of ever having your own standards held against you. It's the same sort of culture that disincentivises employees discussing wages with on another- it's a supremely outdated and insular move that only fosters distrust and misinformation.

Of course, let me not give off the impression that I am any better a source for elucidating Xbox's actions than the average observer! I've only the bitter cynicism to taint my distrust. For all I know Xbox could be on the verge of tilting off the edge at Microsoft places a boot on their back and asks them "What are you gonna do, little fish?" But what I can comment on is the recent sprinkling of supposed context of yet another Xbox source that, big surprise, contradicts what we've already been told. Because being vague and unspecific has worked out so well for everyone this far, hasn't it? Matt Booty, not exactly in a public setting but rather a 'Variety Business Podcast', spoke someone's truth on the matter. 

Matt acknowledged the success of the studio but went further to analyse what exactly went into that success and the factors that contributed to it, positing the many features that could go in to making a title successful. Of course, I'd imagine this was an attempt to remain somewhat aloof and unspecific that totally fell apart when Matt just came out and said- "What leadership do you have? What creative leadership do you have? Is it the same team that shipped something successfully previously?" And those are the metrics by which the future of studios are apparently weighed, and in this instance, cut short. One might call it a 'lack of faith'.

Essentially what this is slyly referring to is the fact that the founder of the studio, industry legend Shinji Mikami of 'Resident Evil' fame, left the studio after the release of Hi-Fi Rush in order to pursue newer ventures- and that is now being pointed to as the catalyst for the studio's demise. In the same way that losing Kojima was the end of Konami's credibility, a powerful creative lead like Mikami was so intrinsic to the studio, as well as those other heads around him of course, that in his absence Tango Gameworks just weren't the same studio anymore. At least that's what we're supposed to believe and I have to say- I never liked this train of reasoning no matter how many times I hear it parroted.

It's like what everyone has been saying about Bioware whilst casting side eye. "They're not the same studio! All the legends are gone, you can't expect anything out of them anymore!" Which compounds a more complex issue into deeply reductive boxes that restrict the future genealogy of the industry. We're talking about a studio full of people who perfected their craft under the supervision of these 'legends', who worked with them, would have been taught by them, and in some cases probably expected to take what they learnt and added something new now that the stage was open for someone new to take the reigns. We can't have the old legends around forever- they'll need successor's someday! And even if that is too much credit to give a team of colleagues- at the very least these studios by reputation alone would attract a similar style of team to that which existed before. You're not going to get a team of Live Service knuckledraggers signing up to work at FromSoftware, now are you?

Out of all the possible excuses for the firing I think this may just be the most headscratching. Sure, the former team may contest that they had serious plans for the future- but of course they would say that, maybe their upcoming projects sounded weak to someone with an objective look from the outside. Maybe they were juggling the next Redfall and were too self conscious to admit it. But saying they were no longer worthy of keeping alive because some of the make-up of the studio is different now just boggles the mind- at the very least you have to give a bit more to go on. If not, then you owe them the chance to prove themselves. Or you would, if you cared about the industry. Which is becoming increasingly the question we pose when considering Xbox these days...

The death of Xbox's future

A lot of crying wolf has fallen upon the space of game's journalism regarding the imminent demise of Xbox as a powerhouse within the top tier of the industry. They seem to be setting themselves up to abandon the console war entirely and become full time publishers for the rest of eternity. Whereas I loathe the idea of a Sony-Controlled industry, what else can you forsee in a world where Microsoft lose more and more marketshare every year, both from the successes of Sony and their constant depressing failures. The move to start shilling of exclusives was a nowhere road into the wall, the dragging out of long-term exclusives that end up scoring mid reviews is dressing, and now Xbox have finally gone the route of scaring off all small studios that might have had a future to grow up into something big. Truly the future is dead at Microsoft Game Studios.

You've probably heard the news. Arkane Austin are dead, killed for the crime of creation Redfall- a game that was, to be fair, absolute dog-crap from the ground up. But here's the thing- it was a game that they didn't even want to make, which only carried on to launch by Microsoft incompetence when it came to project management which the then-leader of Xbox accepted responsibility for. (I'll call Phil Spencer 'then leader' in the knowledge that once Microsoft falls into a holding pattern of publishing, they won't have need of a man with his talents anymore.) They were punished for being led to crap. How utterly twisted and diabolical for any god-fearing games company to do. It almost sounds as though their positive contributions were thrown away entirely.

Because yes, Arkane Austin were also responsible for putting together the beloved Prey reboot game which some have gone so far as to label the revitalisation of the Immersive Sim genre. And yes, Prey did underperform- and it also stole it's name from the original Prey property for absolutely no reason- they had no ties to that original game whatsoever- but the game was considered a classic. That is the kind of goodwill that, when correctly fostered, can eventually generate the kind of smash hit that moves consoles down the line. But I guess Xbox just couldn't be bothered to put in that effort so at the very first sign of weakness they decided to let Arkane A go. Whoops.

Now I know, as sick as it tastes to even consider, there is a sick logic to this. If from a monetary standpoint the company is looked on as a liability- a cold and emotion-deficient producer won't think twice about heading for layoffs. And Redfall wasn't just a disaster- it was a disaster that had already sold season passes promising buyers more content. Extra playable characters that had technically already been sold to a community that dried up within a couple of weeks, that promise was a liability hanging over the studio where they had to spend the development hours and money to create content that realistically no one could pay. Now that is the tiniest possible inconvenience for a multibillion dollar company- but how do you think they become multibillionaires? By being stingy.

But now I'm going to slap you in the mouth and tell you to dispense of that blasphemy you call 'Logic' because this next point defies that. Tango Gameworks has also been shut down. They were the developers of the two pretty decent Evil Within games that carried on the survival horror genre when everyone felt it was good and buried. Then just over a year ago they were the ones to inject something of a hope into the possibility of Xbox as a first party game developer with the surprising Hi-Fi Rush hit that came out the same day it was announced and knocked people's socks off. To this day that is the only first party Xbox game of this generation that seemed to have received straight universal praise, and Xbox fired it's developers.

That means if you develop under Xbox you need to be careful because one stinker from your studio is enough to put you on the chopping block, regardless of the circumstances around it and all your previous contributions to the craft. But you also need to be careful because if you develop a hit, you'll be on the chopping block, regardless on whether or not that hit is the spine upon which your rocky reputation is held up. The lesser know Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Studios, yet to make names for themselves, were also shut down- so be careful about not making a splash. Essentially- don't work for Xbox- because they cannot offer security to literally anyone. They are toxicity incarnate.

Everytime Xbox's long term strategies have been brought up it has been about 'building up studios' into the same sort of hitmakers that Sony has on their back bench. They rejected the toxic method of simply buying up everyone Sony could ever work with in favour of the long-play which would be healthier for the industry as a whole. But there's only so long you can say "Hold on, the real good games are all coming next year!" especially when all these middle weight makers are getting gutted and left to dry out because Xbox are too cheap to sell them on to new owners and potential keep a team of well-working professionals together. That was the very heart of the Xbox brand they just wantonly cut out- and now what's left?

A dead future and a public address that no one wants to make. At this point it's pretty much said and done. Starfield and Indiana Jones might as well get released on Playstation before the year is out so Microsoft can prepare to exit the console market, because there is no coming back from a torpedo like this. A total assassination of brand and self that ruins what little respect Xbox still had built up for itself. I only wish they had the good graces to throw in the towel years ago and save us this prolonged will-they won't they- which has contributed a grand total of barely anything to the art form and just ended up ruining a bunch of promising up and coming Studios. Phil Spencer has some answers to give, and if they aren't good enough- maybe that speech should come with his papers too.

GhostWire: Tokyo

Face the Unknown

Last year, back when public events still where a non-taboo topic, Bethesda came out and announced they would be holding their own E3 conference once again, much to the sceptical raised eyes of the gaming world. Previous years had met such an announcement with excitement; "Bethesda's doing a conference? Well then they must have something to show, afterall they wouldn't just flush all those marketing dollars down the drain just to waste everyone's time, right?" But it seems we all underestimated the value of keeping up appearances because Bethesda had done exactly that for two years straight beforehand. E3 2019 was their chance to change all that, and what we got was- different from what I was expecting... I'll say that much. Instead of showing a brand new project that the studio was working on, Bethesda made appeasement announcements with Fallout 76 (or 'poor apologies', as some might say) and spoke about a great deal of games they were publishing for. It was through this event that I first learned about; 'GhostWire Tokyo'

Initially is stood out as quite the interesting title for a Bethesda game, as it seemed to aim itself at the horror market, but with a different approach than the typical 'survival horror' stance that we've seen a little too much with recent decent-budget horror titles such as 'The Evil Within'. (Which Bethesda also published, and who's team were behind this title.) 'GhostWire Tokyo' looked like more of a supernatural thriller that whirled around the weird and abnormal situations and encounters that can fit so nicely into the genre of horror. Whilst we saw precious little out of this game at the time, what we saw was enough to generate a little bit of buzz; alongside the memorable appearance from the hyper-animated representative for the game whom I believe now is no longer associated with the company or the game. (Which is a shame.) This weird surrealist take on the city of Tokyo seemed to really resonate with audiences and thus some anticipation began to build for our next foray into it's secrets.

Cue the Playstation 5 reveal event and expectations were reworked once more as it was revealed that 'GhostWire' found it's way into their presentation, instead of Bethesda's. This is doubly confusing as Bethesda has always typically held a tight-knit relationship with Microsoft in previous years but now they seem to be getting all buddy-buddy with Sony. Whatever could be the story behind this little discrepancy? Regardless of the truth to it, the result was that we all got see some new 'Ghostwire' footage running on a PS5, and that's something to celebrate no matter what console you own. Could the title still manage to maintain it's aura of mystery, or would the gentle unravelling of it's mystique prove detrimental to it's rugged allure? Well, let's assess!

'GhostWire: Tokyo' puts players in the shoes of one of the last remaining people in the city of Tokyo after a mysterious event has led to the disappearance of 99% of her residents. In the place of people, lie ghostly visitations from otherworldly creatures that are known as 'visitors', which only the player (as far as we know) has the ability to fight. Thus starts the plot of what sounds like a vaguely interesting anime, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't have some potential to grow into a interesting title if handled right. As is the trend with modern horror-adjacent titles; this game will take place in full first person, allowing the audience to be right-in-the-face of their spectral foes, only in this game we'll actually have the capabilities to fight back against them, so I think it'll be interesting to step into this perspective without it being a vehicle to highlight our helplessness. (Getting tired of running away in every horror game.)

Of the footage that we have seen thusfar, I think it's safe to say that the star of the show for this game is actually it's enemy design because wow, these 'vistors' look crazy'! In the Playstation 5 footage alone I spotted Slenderman-looking guys with umbrellas, these floating enemies who look like Ballade's from Kingdom Hearts and, of course, a headless girl wearing a Seifuku. (This is set in Japan, afterall.) A lot of these enemies have the trend of looking more creepy than outright horrific, and that's kind of the main takeaway that I get from 'Ghostwire'. (Something that is probably supported by the ability to fight back against these monsters.) One aspect of the game that all these enemies do contribute to is it's diversity, and I'm excited to see if these are going to be the sorts of enemies that all require some sort of special technique to 'seal' them; as one might expect from a title like this. Even if they do just turn out to be fist-fodder, however, I'm still appreciative of the chance to see other cultures showoff their cryptids and legends. (Some of the coolest legends are the local ones.)

The actual battling of the game is another feature we got a glimpse of thanks to the PS5 trailer, and I'm glad to say that everything looks quite dynamic and fun so far. Apparently the combat director has described this sort of gameplay as "Karate meets magic" and whilst that may make me personally shudder in recollection of 'Jade Empire',  I understand where they're coming from. In the gameplay we can see our protagonist firing balls of chi from their hands and sticking their full fist through some creatures chest to drag out it's soul. It's a very 'hands on' combat system that I predict will gel very well in a creepy horror-esque aesthetic because of the way that it forces the player to get up close and personal with their attackers, rather than stay afar and shoot them from a distance. (Although, to play Devil's advocate, that forced-familiarity may result in the enemies losing their scare-factor a little too soon.) I'd imagine that the whole 'magic karate' angle will also leave ample room for RPG levelling mechanics down the line, which I'm almost certain will exist knowing both Bethesda and Tango Gameworks' last 2 titles.

If there is one complaint that I've having about this game thusfar, it's got to be the graphics which, once again, fail to scream 'Next gen' to me. Again, don't misread me, I do very much like the slightly stylised aesthetic direction which beautifully moulds with the surrealist angle behind the very concept, but in regards to the technological capabilities of what I saw achieved in that trailer, nothing astounded me. Nothing even made me stop and go "Well, I'm going to need a PS5 to play that!" Which is a shame considering that so far the game has only been confirmed for release on Playstation 5 and windows. What gives Bethesda? Don't tell me you're about to go down that cursed 'exclusivity' route; you've lost too much of my respect already. And I find it really hard to believe that this game can't run on current gen considering how the current footage looks. (Fingers crossed for a more inclusive platform announcement a little further along in development.)

In conclusion, 'GhostWire: Tokyo' looks to be the kind of title with the capacity to surprise, and that's the sort of trait that is severely lacking in modern gaming. Looking at the title from a narrative perspective (as I am often wont to do) I can envision a lot of potential from this title to escalate into abject insanity as things go on. And I say that as a fan who played and was enraptured by the developer's delightfully weird previous title; The Evil Within. My excitement is slightly sullied by the prospect of impromptu exclusivity, but I won't raise by pitchfork until anything is made official. So keep getting weirder, Tango; I want to see what sort of nightmarish studio you become 10 years down the line. (They may even start giving 'Red Barrels' a run for their money)