Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weird timing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Weird timing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karli Iwamasa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karli Iwamasa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Karli Iwamasa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b0761652a0774f46b76481b12afaad8\"},\"headline\":\"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\"},\"wordCount\":324,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\",\"name\":\"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Weird timing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Image via Tango Gameworks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dot Esports\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b0761652a0774f46b76481b12afaad8\",\"name\":\"Karli Iwamasa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/1ccd052a5bfd686e87adfc13fafff5d6\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89856f60544537e3064e050d4a1954e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89856f60544537e3064e050d4a1954e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"caption\":\"Karli Iwamasa\"},\"description\":\"Karli is a freelance writer and editor for Dot Esports based in the Bay Area. She mostly writes about Pok\u00e9mon with a focus on competitive VGC but also enjoys VALORANT.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/karliiwamasa\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios","description":"Weird timing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios","og_description":"Weird timing.","og_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios","og_site_name":"Dot Esports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","article_published_time":"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Karli Iwamasa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DotEsports","twitter_site":"@DotEsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Karli Iwamasa","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios"},"author":{"name":"Karli Iwamasa","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b0761652a0774f46b76481b12afaad8"},"headline":"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios","datePublished":"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios"},"wordCount":324,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios","name":"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-09T07:25:48+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-09T07:25:52+00:00","description":"Weird timing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Image via Tango Gameworks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/general\/news\/xbox-says-it-needs-smaller-games-right-after-shutting-down-award-winning-studios#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Xbox says it needs \u2018smaller games\u2019 right after shutting down award-winning studios"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b0761652a0774f46b76481b12afaad8","name":"Karli Iwamasa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/1ccd052a5bfd686e87adfc13fafff5d6","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89856f60544537e3064e050d4a1954e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/89856f60544537e3064e050d4a1954e0?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","caption":"Karli Iwamasa"},"description":"Karli is a freelance writer and editor for Dot Esports based in the Bay Area. She mostly writes about Pok\u00e9mon with a focus on competitive VGC but also enjoys VALORANT.","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/karliiwamasa"}]}},"raw_content":"Xbox seems to be on board with focusing more on smaller games, but the timing couldn\u2019t be more ironic with the closure of a successful Microsoft studio. The head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, spoke to employees on May 8, saying, \u201cWe need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,\u201d according to The Verge. Initially, this sounds great because who doesn\u2019t love small games? After all, we saw the recent success of Tango Gameworks\u2019 small rhythm action game, Hi-Fi RUSH, which claimed multiple awards, and it\u2019d be awesome if Xbox put out more small and charming games like that. Coincidentally, Tango Gameworks was among the four game studios shut down by Microsoft just a day before Booty\u2019s statement. This has naturally left people scratching their heads at the sequence of events. If Xbox wants to go harder in the small games department and produce award-winning content there, it sounds a bit silly to hear it also just shut down its award-winning small game studio. \u201cLet's pretend we're an indie studio because that's whats trending right now. And if it doesn't have whatever it is that artists call \"soul\" you're fired,\u201d one gamer commented, pointing to all the expected job cuts from these studio closures. Yet, it seems even if studios like Tango Gameworks were living up to Booty\u2019s award-winning expectations, that still wouldn\u2019t protect them from a tragic shutdown. \u201cAnd if it does [have soul], guess what? Also fired,\u201d another gamer responded. And while some believe the studio closures won\u2019t be \u201cthe end of the world,\u201d they\u2019re pointing fingers at Xbox head Phil Spencer for failing to help the studios thrive. It\u2019s gotten to the point where gamers are apparently nuking his camp in Fallout 76.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/27224029\/hi-fi-rush-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223460"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1223460"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1223467,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1223460\/revisions\/1223467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1223460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1223460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1223460"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1223460"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1223460"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1223460"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1223460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

We need more small games like Hi-Fi RUSH<\/em>. Image via Tango Gameworks<\/figcaption><\/figure>

This has naturally left people scratching their heads at the sequence of events. If Xbox wants to go harder in the small games department and produce award-winning content there, it sounds a bit silly to hear it also just shut down its award-winning small game studio.<\/p>