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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1 March 2010; 15 years ago (2010-03-01) inOdaiba,Tokyo, Japan |
| Founder | Shinji Mikami |
| Headquarters | Shibuya, Tokyo ,Japan |
Key people |
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| Products | |
Number of employees | 100[2] (2024) |
| Parent | ZeniMax Media(2010–2024) Krafton(2024–present) |
| Website | tangogameworks.com |
Tango Gameworks Inc. is a Japanesevideo game developer based inTokyo. Founded in March 2010 byShinji Mikami, previously ofCapcom, the company was acquired byZeniMax Media in October that year after suffering financial issues.
Tango developedsurvival horror gamesThe Evil Within,The Evil Within 2,action-adventure gameGhostwire: Tokyo, andrhythm-basedaction gameHi-Fi Rush.
Tango's parent company ZeniMax Media was acquired byMicrosoft in March 2021, making Tango the first Japanese studio inMicrosoft Gaming's development portfolio.[3] Microsoft closed the studio in June 2024. In August 2024, South Korean publisherKrafton announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the studio from Microsoft for an undisclosed amount, while Tango also forged a strategic partnership with Microsoft.
Shinji Mikami had been with video game developerCapcom since 1989, working on several of its franchises and creating theResident Evil series of horror video games. Over time, Capcom grew too large for Mikami, who also wished to develop games based around concepts other than horror, as he had for Capcom. For some time, he worked on a freelance basis, directing the action gameVanquish forPlatinumGames and producing the action-horror gameShadows of the Damned forGrasshopper Manufacture. He was repeatedly inquired bySega to develop a horror game for them, which he rejected.[4] On 1 March 2010, a 44-year-old Mikami and a team of twelve developers founded Tango inOdaiba,Tokyo, where he moved to from his previous office inOsaka.[4][5] Shigenori Nishikawa, the director ofMadWorld for PlatinumGames, joined the company in May 2010.[6] Tango immediately began work on multiple projects, with a small team working for six months on a joke game that would have starred a cockroach standing on two legs and shooting a gun.[4]
Their primary project wasNoah, a sci-fiopen world survival-adventure game inspired by the 1984 filmDune. In this game, Earth had become mostly uninhabitable and humankind moved to other planets, where one colony loses contact with the others and a research team is tasked with finding them. Shortly after development on this game began, Tango ran into financial issues; according to Mikami, "something happened".[4] American video game publisherBethesda Softworks stepped in to assist and had its parent company,ZeniMax Media, acquire the studio. That deal was announced on 28 October 2010.[4][7] For the acquisition, ZeniMax used a part of theUS$150 million it had previously raised in private funding.[8] Mikami agreed to the acquisition because he felt Bethesda and ZeniMax would provide the "most independent" development environment for Tango.[9] The studio was merged into ZeniMax Asia K.K., ZeniMax's Asia-Pacific branch based in Tokyo'sAomi area, and reorganised as adivision called Tango Gameworks.[5][7] In November 2010, composerMasafumi Takada (formerly of Grasshopper Manufacture), as well as artist Naoki Katakai and programmer Shinichiro Ishikawa (both formerly of Capcom), joined Tango.[10] By March 2012, the studio had 65 employees, with Mikami expecting to eventually grow to 100 staffers.[11]
Following the acquisition by ZeniMax, Mikami envisioned Tango to continue developing multiple games at a time.Noah was cancelled and development on anotherAAA project,Zwei, commenced. Initially, this game saw a man and woman chained together hunting down a vampire, with either two players controlling each character individually, or one player both simultaneously.[4]Zwei was formally announced in April 2012.[12] Over time, the game evolved into a single-playersurvival horror game and was retitledThe Evil Within, which was announced in April 2013.[4][13] In August 2014, Tango moved from Aomi to theShibaura district.[5]The Evil Within was released by Bethesda in October 2014.[14] It was the last game directed by Mikami, who stepped back from this role to have future Tango games provide opportunities for other people.[4] A sequel toThe Evil Within,The Evil Within 2, was announced atE3 2017 and released by Bethesda in October 2017.[15][16] In June 2019, during Bethesda'spress conference atE3 2019, Mikami and creative directorIkumi Nakamura announcedGhostwire: Tokyo, anaction-adventure game with horror elements.[17] Nakamura resigned from Tango in September 2019, leaving the studio after nine years.[18]
Tango's parent company ZeniMax Media was acquired byMicrosoft forUS$7.5 billion in March 2021 and became part ofMicrosoft Gaming.[19][20] Through the acquisition, Tango became theXbox-maker's first development studio based in Japan.[3] In March 2022, Tango released themobile gameHero Dice and shut it down five months later.[21] At the Xbox and Bethesda Developer_Direct on 25 January 2023, Tango Gameworks announcedHi-Fi Rush, a rhythm-action game which then released later that day.[22] In February 2023, Bethesda Softworks announced that Mikami would leave Tango Gameworks in the coming months. Mikami would later establish a new studio named Kamuy.[23]
In May 2024, Matt Booty,Microsoft Gaming President of Game Content and Studios, announced plans to close down Tango Gameworks.[24] The closure was one of four studios that were managed under Microsoft, alongsideArkane Austin,Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. The decision was massively panned by both fans and journalists, with criticism centering around Microsoft's decision to close the studio despite the critical success ofHi-Fi Rush.[25] The studio was closed on 14 June 2024.[26]
On 12 August 2024, South Korean publisherKrafton announced that it had acquired Tango Gameworks for an unspecified amount. The deal had gone into effect on 1 August and that around 50 of the original 105 staff members would be brought back, with the rest of them reported to have already found employment elsewhere.[27] It also confirmed that the acquisition would include the rights toHi-Fi Rush, and that there were plans to "continue developing" the property and "explore future projects".The Evil Within andGhostwire: Tokyo rights remained at Microsoft, with the company planning on continuing to work alongside Tango and Krafton in a strategic partnership, helping Tango's transition and supporting futureHi-Fi Rush projects.[28][29] On 1 January 2025, Tango Gameworks announced that it had been incorporated as Tango Gameworks Inc. to formally join Krafton.[30] On 2 June 2025, Tango Gameworks updated its branding and website, stated of its new brand design as "Focused on what it feels like to make a game, our vision is centered on a studio that acts like a creative workshop, making games and experiences that emphasize that “hand-made” feel we put into our work."[31]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Evil Within | PlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,Windows,Xbox 360,Xbox One | Bethesda Softworks |
| 2017 | The Evil Within 2 | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One | |
| 2022 | Ghostwire: Tokyo | PlayStation 5, Windows,Xbox Series X/S | |
| Hero Dice | Android,iOS | ZeniMax Asia | |
| 2023 | Hi-Fi Rush | Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 | Bethesda Softworks (2023–2025),Krafton (2025–present) |
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