Two years ago, Microsoft shut down Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and the dev of mobile Doom game Mighty Doom, Alpha Dog Games, in a shocking and brutal move. Since then, Tango Gameworks has managed to find a new home with PUBG publisher Krafton. And now, Alpha Dog is seemingly back in action, too, as an independent developer.
This comes from the LinkedIn profile of studio founder Shawn Woods (via The Verge). His experience at Alpha Dog Games has been relisted on his profile running from May 2025 to present, with the simple descriptor, “Independently owned, again.”
Alpha Dog Games was previously based in Halifax, and primarily focused on mobile games such as Wraithborne and Ninja Golf. It was acquired by Zenimax Media in 2019, and then acquired with the rest of Zenimax by Microsoft in 2021. The studio released Mighty Doom, a roguelike shoot-em-up, for Android and iOS in March of 2023 after a two-year soft launch. The game was shut down in 2024 following the studio’s closure.
At the moment, it is unclear what this new independent revival will look like or who all from the previous studio will work there. Kotaku has reached out to Woods for comment.
This news is a surprising momentary relief after an overwhelming tide of news surrounding mass layoffs at Xbox in recent weeks. 1600 people were let go, 1600 more are planned to be let go in the next year, and a number of studios are being cut loose, with Double Fine and Compulsion to go independent and Ninja Theory and Undead Labs finding new ownership. Arkane Lyon is currently in “consultation” in France, and its fate is yet to be determined. Given the way things have gone the last few years and now the last few weeks, it’s nice to hear that at least one studio flattened by Xbox’s acquisition spree around the industry is back on its feet again.