UPDATE: Xbox Games Marketing VP Aaron Greenberg has denied claims that Hi-Fi Rush didn’t meet Microsoft’s commercial expectations, calling it “a breakout hit in all key measurements and expectations.” Read more on that through here.
Original story follows:
Hi-Fi Rush has been one of the best and biggest surprises of the year so far. Developer by The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks, until not that long ago, we barely weren’t even aware of its access, but instantly upon its surprise launch in January, it was met with widespread praise from critics and audiences alike, and still ranks as one of the year’s highest-rated games. It seems, however, that that critical success hasn’t been reflected in the game’s commercial performance.
That’s as per journalist Jeff Grubb, who said during a recent episode of his Game Mess Decides podcast (spotted by a user on Reddit) that based on what he has heard, Hi-Fi Rush has fallen short of Microsoft’s internal commercial expectations for the projects, having failed to make the money “it needed to make.”
One has to wonder what Microsoft’s internal expectations for the game are. Bethesda announced earlier in the year that Hi-Fi Rush had been played by over 2 million players, which would give the impression that it’s actually been quite successful, especially given the kind of release as it was.
For a game that was announced and released on the same day, had little to no marketing, fell in a fairly niche genre that its developer wasn’t known for, and was also available day one on Game Pass, it’s hard to see what level of commercial performance Microsoft had expected for Hi-Fi Rush. It’s not like it was ever going to make them any money from microtransactions.
In our review of Hi-Fi Rush, we awarded it a score of 9/10, saying, “Even though it has flashes of games that came before, Hi-Fi Rush is a unique, masterful game that accomplishes everything it sets out to with plenty of style and charm to spare.” Read the full review through here.
Hi-Fi Rush is available on Xbox Series X/S and PC.
