Four Bethesda studios cease to exist at once. This was reported by IGN and Bloomberg with reference to a letter from the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty.
Hi-Fi Rush
Microsoft got under the "knife":
- Arkane Austin is the author of Prey and Redfall. After the studio closes, some of its employees will transfer to other Bethesda teams. Redfall support will be discontinued. Players who bought the premium edition of Redfall with never-released DLC will be compensated. Important — Arkane Lyon studio will continue to work;
- Tango Gameworks — the authors of The Evil Within, Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush. All studio games will remain available;
- Alpha Dog Studios are the authors of the mobile Mighty DOOM. The game will close on August 7;
- Roundhouse Games — participated in the development of Redfall and The Elder Scrolls Online. Her staff will be transferred to ZeniMax Online Studios.
In addition, there will be "small" layoffs in Bethesda's publishing and corporate teams.
Buti stressed that studio closures and layoffs do not mean that the affected employees were not talented enough or did not work well. Microsoft had to "make difficult decisions" in order to increase investment in higher-priority games. Bootie added that Bethesda will remain "one of the pillars of Xbox."
Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks and Alpha Dog Studios confirmed the closure of the studios on social media.