Tango Gameworks was working on brand new The Evil Within content and had a 6 months old prototype of Hi-Fi Rush 2 in the works prior to the studio’s closure.
During an interview, Krafton head of corporate development Maria Park was asked whether, with the company’s recent acquisition of Tango Gameworks, the idea is just to let the studio continue working on Hi-Fi Rush 2. In response, Park stated that the prototype build of Hi-Fi Rush 2 that Krafton executives looked at was around six months old when they went to meet with Tango Gameworks.
She mentioned that, because the IP acquisition is in progress, the game is currently on hold because all the related assets and tools have yet to be transferred to Krafton from Microsoft. However, she confirmed that the studio will certainly continue working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 under Krafton. She added that the company won’t really rush to the market just to deliver a sequel. Instead, it wants to make sure that it is actually at a level of quality that surpasses the community’s expectations.
Park was also asked about Tango Gameworks’ other projects, and whether Krafton believes games like Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Evil Within help to justify the studio’s acquisition. In response, she said that Krafton primarily focused on Hi-Fi Rush, and that this was more of a strategic decision. According to her, it would’ve been great to get all of Tango Gameworks’ IPs, but the team was working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 and others were working on anniversary content for The Evil Within. She added that, knowing Microsoft’s direction with the IP sale, Krafton didn’t want to push too far with the acquisition, as it would complicate the process and elongate the entire negotiation process. As such, the company primarily had Hi-Fi Rush under discussion with the software giant.
