Xbox closes 3 studios, including Redfall, Prey, and Hi-Fi Rush developers

Microsoft has shut down three studios from ZeniMax as the games industry shrinks and retracts.

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In a bid to cut spending and stabilize margins, Microsoft has made multiple rounds of layoffs across its Xbox games division. In January, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees across its Xbox and Activision branches, and today it was revealed that three entire studios will also be closing down.

Arkane Austin, the developer of Prey and the ill-fated Redfall, Tango Gameworks, the devs of Hi-Fi Rush and the excellent Evil Within games, and Alpha Dog, who made mobile games like Mighty Doom for ZeniMax, have all been shut down.

Roundhouse Studios, which is made up of the former employees of the original Prey developer Human Head, will be absorbed by ZeniMax Online.

Tango Gameworks confirmed the studio's closure on Twitter, and Arkane Austin did the same.

In an internal email acquired by Bloomberg, Xbox president of content Matt Booty said that these closures will allow Bethesda to focus on big high-impact titles.

"These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda's portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades."

ZeniMax is a limited-integration company under Xbox following the $7.5 billion acquisition deal. The division is run by Jamie Leder, who serves as CEO of ZeniMax/Bethesda, and Leder reports to Matt Booty, the president of game content and studios at Xbox.

Bethesda's studios are currently working on high-profile games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Elder Scrolls VI, and more Starfield content. id is also believed to be working on a new unannounced Doom game, and somewhere far down the line Bethesda will move on to Fallout 5.