When Tango Gameworks announced "Hi-Fi Rush" (opens in new tab) in January, we were completely taken by surprise. The bigger surprise was that it was a colorful, cartoonish rhythm-action game from the studio best known for "The Evil Within" (opens in new tab) and "Ghostwire" (opens in new tab): Games from Tokyo (opens in new tab). The word is that it's a colorful, cartoonish rhythm-action game by the studio best known for its "Ghostwire" (opens in new tab). However, a recently discovered Easter egg may indicate that the studio will soon return to more familiar territory.

The screen that appears in the end-game cinematic that precedes "Track 11: The Needle Drop" casually announces a fictional news item: "A sequel to the popular survival horror game has been announced." It's only visible for a second or two, and the text is quite small compared to the rest of the visuals, but it's certainly there. You can watch this video (opens in new tab) (via GamesRadar (opens in new tab), timestamps are from the appropriate point in time) or directly below.

The Evil Within is the only Tango Gameworks game for which this description applies: it is both a survival horror game and a franchise, as there are two. The studio's previous game, Ghostwire: Tokyo, is vaguely horror-like, but is closer to an action game.

Another notable note is that Hi-Fi Rush is directed by John Johannas (opens in new tab), who made his big directorial debut with Evil Within 2. Many other staff members who had worked on survival horror games moved on to this game, and the second Evil Within film, like all of them of course, left the door wide open for the continuation of the story.

The big question at this point is whether this is a tease or just a throwaway reference in the flavor text. Personally, I think this is important: as far as I know, there was nothing to indicate that The Evil Within 3 is in development, but as a successful and well-known title from a major game studio, a sequel is inevitable. Even if nothing is being made now, it is certain to be made at some point, and when it does, everyone will be able to look back on this moment and nod in agreement.

And surely Tango Gameworks wouldn't be deliberately engaging fans with Easter eggs like this if they had any intention at all of making a new Evil Within game: ...... I'm sure the studio would never drop such a bomb in an email response, but I inquired just in case.