The group at Tango Gameworks have been by way of so much these previous couple of years. Excessive on the shock launch of their extremely acclaimed 2023 hit Hi-Fi Rush, the studio was abruptly closed down in Might, inflicting uproar amongst recreation followers world wide. Then, in August, it was introduced that South Korea’s PUBG writer Krafton had reached an settlement to purchase Tango, together with Hi-Fi Rush, granting the studio a brand new lease of life.
Amid such dramatic twists and turns, Tango has retained a lot of its employees for this new iteration. IGN spoke with studio head Colin Mack, artistic director / Hi-Fi Rush director John Johanas, and growth director / Hi-Fi Rush challenge supervisor Kazuaki Egashira about their plans for Tango Gameworks going ahead.
Regardless of earlier reviews that Hi-Fi Rush 2 is in growth, Mack clarified that the group are nonetheless contemplating their choices earlier than they commit to a sequel. That’s to say, the group had beforehand been engaged on a sequel on the time of the acquisition, and it appears fairly probably that they’ll proceed to achieve this, however at this stage a sequel isn’t assured.
“We’re contemplating a sequel positively,” Mack advised IGN. “We aren’t but on the stage the place we will say particularly, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ ”
Johanas added: “A lot of our employees have a variety of love for [Hi-Fi Rush], so we really feel like we have now choices. We’re presently on the stage of contemplating numerous alternatives.”
From The Evil Inside to Ghostwire: Tokyo and at last Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks is understood for creating model new video games, and plainly this tradition nonetheless persists within the studio’s newest incarnation underneath Krafton. Egashira defined that creating new experiences is “within the DNA of Tango Gameworks.”
“Hi-Fi Rush grew to become widespread as a brand new IP, but when Hi-Fi Rush had been to keep the identical endlessly, it will finally develop into outdated,” he stated. “I feel Tango Gameworks is about taking up new challenges. I hope to proceed to work in a approach that places builders on the middle, with out shedding our ardour.”
“Not solely me, however lots of the growth employees have a powerful attachment to Hi-Fi Rush,” stated Johanas. “Not solely the sport but additionally the characters and the world are beloved by us, so I need to cherish this IP.
“However, it is essential to strive new issues. I labored on The Evil Inside, directed its DLC, after which directed the sequel The Evil Inside 2. I do not suppose I may have made one more horror recreation at that time, as a result of there’s solely a lot you are able to do with the identical materials. It’s dangerous to strive one thing utterly totally different, positive — however I feel a sequel to a collection can also be a threat in itself.”
Krafton’s acquisition of Tango Gameworks took place when the studio members, confronted with imminent closure, started searching for a purchaser. Krafton was proactive in courting the group and moved extraordinarily rapidly to suggest and finalize the acquisition, permitting lots of the employees to keep collectively. “I’m glad that we had been ready to proceed making video games collectively whereas preserving the DNA of Tango Gameworks intact, quite than ranging from scratch once more,” stated Johanas, highlighting how the group’s chemistry was constructed up over years of working collectively, and performed a giant half within the success of Hi-Fi Rush.
The studio presently has round 50 staff, and Mack says they’ll start recruitment in late December or January 2025, with a view to rising to round 100 folks. This will permit them to give attention to making one recreation at a time whereas additionally experimenting with new initiatives on the facet, very similar to how Hi-Fi Rush was initially created.
Johanas additionally recalled recommendation given to him by Shinji Mikami, the legendary developer who based Tango Gameworks in 2010 earlier than leaving in 2023 after the discharge of Hi-Fi Rush. Mikami was eager to foster new expertise at Tango, and Johanas primarily grew to become certainly one of his apprentices, influencing his views on how the studio will proceed into the longer term.
“I realized from Mr Mikami that it will be significant for a director to talk about concepts for a recreation with their group quite than giving orders, and to make the sport collectively,” Johanas stated. “He typically stated that when you make a recreation like a bonsai tree, it might take the form the director had in thoughts, however every of the event employees is not going to really feel their output is mirrored. In that sense, freedom is essential. After all, it’s needed for the director to resolve the general path, however we have now at all times valued an setting the place the employees can create freely, quite than one the place they’re solely allowed to as they’re advised. It is nearer to the expansion of a tree in nature than a bonsai tree.
“Mikami locations a excessive degree of belief in his employees, which is why so many people have stayed at Tango Gameworks for thus lengthy. I hope to proceed this tradition of freedom sooner or later.”
For data on recruitment at Tango Gameworks, take a look at Krafton’s recruitment site. Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan.