Following Xbox’s surprise closure of Tango Gameworks, the creator of Hi-Fi Rush, players are positively review bombing the action game to show their support and, in some cases, demonstrate their disapproval of Xbox’s decision.
As announced on Tuesday May 7, Xbox has shuttered both Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, the creators of Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush respectively. While the vampire shooter struggled, Tango’s rhythm game scored a slew of positive reviews, scooping up the Game Award for best audio design, and a BAFTA for animation.
The decision to shutter Tango in particular has been met with upset and no small amount of confusion, especially following a comment from Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, claiming that Xbox needs “smaller games that give us prestige and awards” (via The Verge).
In the wake of the announcement, and a Bloomberg interview with Xbox president Sarah Bond, players have taken to Steam to positively review Hi-Fi Rush – let’s call it an anti-review bomb.
At the time of writing, Hi-Fi Rush has a 97% positive rating on Valve’s storefront, with recent reviews coming in at 94% positive. While some initially started to negatively review the game on May 7, we can see those numbers are dwarfed by the influx of positive reviews.
There are 679 new reviews at the time of writing, most of which include ‘RIP Tango Gameworks.’ “At least they went out with a bang,” writes one, while another comments “Hi Fi Rush was the best game Xbox published in over a decade, it won awards and was beloved by everyone. Microsoft’s answer is to shut them down, and it’s crap.”
Additionally, the game has seen a steady rise in Steam players since the announcement of the studio’s closure, peaking at 889 concurrents. It’s certainly nowhere near its all-time peak of 6,132 concurrents, but it’s still a notable uplift.
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