Earlier this year, Microsoft decided to close three of its internal game development teams. That included the Japan-based Tango Gameworks, makers of The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Hi-Fi Rush.
More recently, Krafton, best known as the publisher behind the hit battle royale game PUBG: Battlegrounds, announced it was going to acquire Tango Gameworks and the rights to the Hi-Fi Rush game franchise. However, in a new interview with Game Developer, Krafton CEO Changhan "CH" Kim stated that this acquisition was not completely driven by money.
In fact, Kim said that when and if the revived Tango Gameworks team releases a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush, it won"t be because they expect it to be a huge financial success. He said:
"We can"t acquire Tango Gameworks based on their financials or their numbers, right? We don"t think Hi-Fi Rush 2 is going to make us money, to be frank . . . But it"s part of our attempt. We have to keep trying [to develop games] in the spirit of challenge-taking."
Kim says the people at Tango Gameworks "want to try something new, and we want to do more of that." Indeed, Kim feels taking more risks with different ideas for games is a better way to find a new hit game franchise. He added:
"Just recoup the production costs, please, is what I say. But that in itself is a pretty big challenge. If you try doing that, you might actually land a big hit. I don"t trust people who say "oh, this is going to be a hit." I want someone who can try something new."
It"s been reported that when Krafton acquired Tango Gameworks, it also brought in about 50 of its 100 former employees. Kim says they have no plans to reduce the team, and indeed, he believes that it will need 100 team members to continue developing a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush. The team may get even bigger as Krafton also wants it to work on all new projects.