Tango Gameworks Founder Shinji Mikami Reacts to Studio Closure

Tango Gameworks

By Pam K Ferdinand

Published May 8, 2024

Highlights

Tango Gameworks founder Shinji Mikami expresses sadness over the unexpected closure of the renowned game studio.
Despite the shutdown, fans remain hopeful for potential new entries in popular franchises like The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo.
Mikami's brief tweet "Tango closed. Sad." mirrors the sentiments of many fans left in shock by the studio's closure.

Resident Evil creator and Tango Gameworks founder Shinji Mikami has shared his thoughts on the announced closure of the renowned game studio. On May 7, Microsoft revealed that it was shutting down four Bethesda studios: Redfall developer Arkane Austin, mobile studio Alpha Dog Games, Roundhouse Studios, and Tango Gameworks.

While some people seemed unsurprised about the closure of Arkane Austin, given the poor reception of Redfall, Tango’s shutdown was much more unexpected. Four of the five titles developed by the Japan-based studio — The Evil Within 1 and 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the surprise rhythm-based hit Hi-Fi Rush — have been extremely well received, with many fans clamoring for new entries in all three franchises.

Every Game By Tango Gameworks, Ranked

Despite the fact that Tango Gameworks haven't been around for too long, they already have a handful of amazing games in their catalog.

So, as gamers mourn the closure of Tango Gameworks and the potential loss of any follow-ups to its hit games, studio founder Shinji Mikami also expressed dismay at the announcement on Twitter: “Tango closed. Sad.” It’s a message with few words, but it sums up the feelings of many fans, who were left a bit speechless at the unexpected turn of events.

Shinji Mikimi's Reaction to Tango's Shutdown Echoes the Community's Response

The responses to Mikami's Twitter post echo his sentiment, with one person stating that though the company has closed, "the dream lives on." Others expressed sympathy for how it must feel to witness the shutdown of a company that Mikami had built from the ground up and worked with for years, while many gamers asked the veteran developer to continue telling stories. One future-focused reader posited that crowdfunding may be the savior of indie game development, as the longevity of even major studios has become increasingly tenuous.

Shinji Mikami, credited as a creator of Capcom’s Resident Evil series, is considered by many to be an industry icon. Though Mikami left Tango Dreamworks in 2023, fans are interested to hear what he has to say about the closure of the studio that he founded in 2010 and worked at for over a decade. Within months of its opening, Tango Gameworks was acquired by Bethesda parent company ZeniMax, so when Microsoft bought ZeniMax in 2021, Tango went with it and became Microsoft’s first studio based in Japan.

In 2024, Microsoft began sweeping layoffs that affected multiple companies, many of which had recently been obtained via the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. These included Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games, Skylanders’ Toys for Bob, and Blizzard. Many people assumed that the layoffs would impact only Activision Blizzard studios, but it seems that is unfortunately not the case.