Hi-Fi RUSH Is Currently Being Reverse-Review Bombed On Steam

"I'm Commander Shepherd and this is my favorite game on Steam."

Outta do this on Xbox too

For what it's worth steam db estimates between 480k and 730k bought the game on Steam. This is a small (for the critical/award buzz) but dedicated fanbase. That would leave the bulk of 3m player count on gamepass or console purchases. Which is still low considering the number of people who have or had gamepass since its release.

It seems like all of their games are like that, fewer players than expected. It's disappointing but not shocking to me that it was closed.

I’ll keep saying it: Microsoft closing their first and only Japanese game studio only after three to two years is an awful decision. Doesn’t make sense that Microsoft went on to close Tango while the people at Microsoft said they want to make games appealing to Japanese gamers and also want Xbox to have a presence in Japan.

@Pastellioli True but what do you do after the founder and producers leave? They left the studio stranded without its key talent.

Looking back on what Mikami said years ago about letting the younger staff take control, I now understand that there were disagreements in 2015 when the development of The Evil Within 2 started and those disagreements remained and led to his departure eventually.

Would that be Positive Review Bombing since they are still rushing to spam out reviews… just positive ones?

@NEStalgia And that's also why I think you cleverly noted that Mikami's "Sad." tweet might be sarcastic.

@Banjo- Well, you are likely right with the key staff leaving that maybe could have led to this bad decision. I don’t think I ever knew there were possibly disagreements until I read your comment, so thank you for telling me.

However, if there were disagreements that actually happened at the studio (I don’t know if that is true or not since I of course never worked there) I feel that Microsoft still should have maybe attempted to help the studio, since they want to make games that are appealing to Japan and are likely to sell well there. They have made attempts in the past by localizing their own games into Japanese and working with third-party studios in Japan, but if they kept Tango, they could have helped further with that endeavor, as evidenced by how well Hi-Fi Rush did. Maybe Microsoft could have lended help to keep Tango afloat. However; I don’t blame Mikami and the producers, or think their departure caused the studio to close. I think it’s fully on Microsoft for closing Tango, not to mention they sounded very unsympathetic toward the closure of Tango and Bethesda’s three other subsidiaries.

I still find the closure of the studio sad and disappointing, especially since they released games that garnered positive reception and critical acclaim. I hope that the staff at the studio are doing well, and I wish them the best!

@Pastellioli I understand. I also like Japanese games. Even though Xbox is not popular in Japan, Japanese games are popular around the world and it was cool to have a Japanese studio as part of Xbox Game Studios. Too bad that Tango had internal issues and this brain drain, but the remaining talents will find new opportunities after the closure. Unfortunately, this is how this industry is, studios closing down all the time. From a gamer's perspective, it's sad that we don't know what will happen to The Evil Within and the other IPs. Microsoft owns them now, but we don't know if they or who will work on them.

@IOI FYI, I love Mikami's work and Tango's output. He and two producers had left Tango. Think whatever you want. In any case, you should respect everyone's opinions and interpretations, as we do respect yours✌️.

I played it on Xbox and loved it. So I think leaving a positive review on Steam later today is actually warranted for me lol.

This game is already discounted on PS store on sale. Does that mean that it did not do as well? Sea of Thieves seems to be a huge seller on PS5.

@Banjo- I didn’t mean to sound so hostile, as everyone can tell by my comments I am very angry lol, probably have never been actually angry at a company ever before but yeah, my anger should always be directed at the company, not other people, for that I’m sorry.

I got frustrated that there’s lots of misinformation floating around, it’s true that some people left Tango but we’re not talking about even 5% of team and it’s now known they were in pre-production of a sequel to Hi-Fi, and according to Bloomberg it seems the only reason Tango was shut down was bad timing, the fact they were not in active development made it easier to save up on resources than cancelling a game already in development that would’ve already used some resources (time and money).

While I understand the business side of decisions to me it seems incredibly shortsighted, plus the fact that just some months ago Spencer, Bond, and Booty all claimed porting the game to PS5 would help to ‘reinvest’ in both the IP and the studio, only to shut down the studio 6 weeks after porting it to PS5, that blatant lie is so infuriating to me and show such a clear lack of vision that I really can’t even think of Xbox having a future.

@IOI I appreciate that. Even if people completely disagree with me, I don't mind as long as there is respect. On topic, I'm not blaming Mikami or the producers that left. Everyone is free to do what they want, but I really think that that and the fact that they were looking for additional staff has something to do with Microsoft's decision.

Tango is in Japan, which is on the other hand an advantage because they are genuinely Japanese. Sony got rid of their Japanese side. It was cool that Microsoft had a Japanese studio. I don't like that Microsoft shut Tango down, but I think that if key people leave the studio, they leave it stranded. At that point, they need new people.

Tango makes great games, but their current situation is not worth it. That's what Microsoft has decided as a business, but I don't agree as a gamer. It leaves me wondering what will become of these IPs that are owned by Microsoft, because I believe that the talents will find new opportunities and they are used to this industry that changes names and teams all the time. New studios and IPs will be born.

I was trying to understand and acknowledge the circumstances. It's not as simple as "Tango is great, let's shut it down", although of course it's shocking that, not long ago, Phil praised the studio and Sarah stated how important these smaller good-quality games are. Then again, they didn't make this decision. Phil hasn't said anything.

This is a good opportunity to mention that some studios are not shut down but outsource or just hire and fire people because they "use" them just for one game or DLC. This is how this industry is, but it doesn't mean that I approve anything. Fortunately, I don't run any gaming business and I don't have to make these decisions. Most importantly, I hope that working conditions and salaries are good while every worker is working wherever. That's the thing that matters the most about work.

Played it day one game pass and didn't click. Picked it up on humble bundle for my steam deck and I'm hooked.

Sorry but if Japanese gamers supported Xbox it wouldn't be this way. The fact is that Japanese gamers prefer Japanese consoles. Microsoft will probably never make any headway there.

Is the reverse of review bomb, review mob? They've been review mobbed!

@BacklogBrad I was thinking about that also. Essentially even people with gamepass didn’t try it…just want Xbox to pump it full of the same games over and over I guess 🤷‍♂️

@Banjo- yeah I think that’s what we don’t know…how much of the core of the studio has left. Maybe Xbox will give more info one day…still seems silly to close your only Japanese studio

@DJKingaling Tango was a great studio and the only Japanese studio that Xbox had. I think that this occurred because of the departures and also because the new gaming division is trimming this huge tree that they have become, based on new expectations. That also explains why they have merged some studios and removed the redundant customer service positions... and Phil's silence.