Microsoft insists Hi-Fi Rush a "break out hit" for Xbox amid claims it underperformed
"We couldn't be happier".
Xbox's Aaron Greenberg has insisted Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush was a "break out hit" amid claims the critically acclaimed music adventure "just didn't make the money it needed to make".
The claim Hi-Fi Rush had failed to meet Microsoft's financial expectations was made by Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb during his latest Game Mess Decides podcast.
"Based on what I've heard," Grubb said during a conversation about the game's release strategy, "it just straight up didn't make the money it needed to make. I mean it got good reviews, the buzz was good, so where do you put the blame for something like that? Is it the price? Was it the shadow drop? Could it have sold more? Or is it Game Pass?".
Grubb's claim seemed curiously at odds with previous messaging from Microsoft, which had called Hi-Fi Rush, with its 2 million+ players, "one of the most successful launches for Bethesda and Xbox in recent years" at the time of Shinji Mikami departure from Tango Gameworks.
And now Xbox's vice president of games marketing Aaron Greenberg has denied Grubb's claims in even stronger terms on Twitter, calling Hi-Fi Rush a "break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations", adding, "We couldn't be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release".
Hi-Fi Rush also enjoyed a strong critical reception at launch in January. Eurogamer, for instance, called it "an unrepentant riot of rhythm-action" in our Recommended review.