Beyond just adding more games and IP to its expanding portfolio, Krafton had another reason for buying up Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks after it was closed by Xbox, and it wasn’t about the money, according to the CEO.
“We wanted to maintain their legacy,” says CEO Changhan Kim told Game Developer. “Although they did not have a big success in their games, we saw many creatives worth pursuing. That’s why we wanted to work with that organization.”
It was a delightful surprise to many when Krafton announced that it had purchased Tango for an undisclosed sum after Xbox had shut it down earlier this year. It was one of four studios closed by Microsoft in 2024, alongside Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, and support studio Roundhouse Games.
Preservation isn’t the sole reason Krafton purchased Tango. Hi-Fi Rush was well received by critics and players (Digital Trends ranked it in our favorite Xbox games of 2023), although since Xbox only releases player numbers, not sales, it’s unclear if it was financially successful. Kim seems to imply that the game didn’t sell well in the Game Developer interview.
“We cannot really translate the volume into money. It’s more about the significance,” he added. “The dollar amount was not really important to Microsoft.”
Regardless of actual sales, the publisher wanted access to the IP to make more games. It doesn’t own the IP to other Tango games, like The Evil Within, as that would be too complicated to negotiate with Microsoft, but it could work on one of the biggest surprise hits of the past couple of years — especially since a Bloomberg report said that Tango had been pitching a sequel. “Because Hi-Fi Rush fans really want to see sequels, we negotiated with Tango Gameworks’ parent company [Microsoft] to acquire that IP as well,” Kim said.
It’s also one of many recent moves the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds publisher has made over the past few years. It acquired Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment in 2021 and The Ascent‘s Neon Giant in 2022. It also announced earlier this month a significant investment in Spoon Labs, a short-form K-drama startup.
“The addition of Tango Gameworks represents a strategic alignment with Krafton’s mission to push the boundaries of interactive entertainment,” a Krafton spokesperson said in a press release announcing the deal.
