Krafton has exciting plans for a Hi-Fi Rush sequel after buying Tango Gameworks.
During a recent chat, Krafton CEO Changhan Kim shared why they quickly snapped up the studio after Microsoft closed it. “We can’t acquire Tango Gameworks based on their financials or their numbers, right? We don’t think Hi-Fi Rush 2 is going to make us money, to be frank,” Kim said to Game Developer. He explained that they are taking a gamble to support Tango’s creativity without the fear of failing. Kim emphasized that making video games is risky, but having more projects can balance the odds since one of them might succeed.
The sale is still wrapping up, but Kim shared some cool info. Microsoft sold Tango and only the Hi-Fi Rush IP to Krafton to speed up the process. Acquiring all of Tango’s IP would have taken too long and made things complicated. “We wanted to help the team continue developing their games, but especially Hi-Fi Rush. When I think about our fans, I think what they really care about is Hi-Fi Rush sequels,” Kim added.
We just love to see new games coming out!
They didn’t reveal how much money was involved, but Kim mentioned that Microsoft didn’t care much about the overall dollar amount. Krafton plans to help the studio grow–about half of the team from Microsoft came over–and maybe even work on new projects.
Krafton sees this as a chance to encourage creativity in its studios. They want their teams to “create something new and continue their journey” instead of always chasing big hits. “Hi-Fi Rush might have brought in a little bit of a minus in terms of the financials, but it’s a team that should be encouraged to create something new and continue their journey,” Kim said. “We want to have more teams like that under our umbrella.”
