It appears the talk about Hi-Fush not making “the money it needed to make” was false.
Aaron Greenberg, the Vice President of Xbox Games Marketing, went on Twitter to clear the air about the rumor that came from the industry insider, Jeff Grubb.
Here’s what Greenberg said about Hi-Fi Rush:
Hi-Fi Rush was a break-out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.
Grubb responded on his latest Games Mess Mornings on Giant Bomb episode after the statement was published, where he clarified that his comment “was just a small, passing statement in a larger conversation.” Grubb then closed things out by saying, “OK, that’s fine, we’ll leave it as that.” But, while Grubb says he didn’t mean any harm with his statements, you can’t blame the industry for picking it up.
Aside from the fact that Grubb is one of the most trusted insiders, he also talked about how Microsoft wasn’t satisfied with the Xbox brand, in general. The fact that this comes after rumors that Microsoft is willing to sell the Xbox brand under the right circumstances will induce panic within the gaming community. Besides, Xbox has admitted that the Game Pass doesn’t incentivize gamers to buy games.
With that said, Hi-Fi Rush’s success is important for a studio that recently saw its co-founder, Shinji Mikami, step down.
Upon further inspection, Tango Gameworks isn’t struggling at all, which is further proof that the earlier rumors about Hi-Fi Rush weren’t true. As spotted by keen-eyed observers online, Tango is hiring more than 150 developers, hinting that Microsoft is expanding in Japan.
We’ll never know the truth if Xbox made money after shadow-dropping Hi-Fi Rush earlier this year. However, it’s clear that Microsoft has taken a page out of Netflix’s playbook with its own “secret” metrics for success.
For now, we’ll just have to keep an eye out for similar rumors to emerge after Redfall and Starfield comes out on May 2 and September 6, respectively.
