Hi-Fi Rush outsells Forspoken on Steam
Within the first week of release, the surprise hit Hi-Fi Rush has made more money on Steam than Forspoken. If you’re unsure of what Forspoken is, it was meant to be Square Enix’s newest RPG about a New Yorker who gets transported to a fictional fantasy world. This was a new IP by Square that was supposed to draw in the existing Final Fantasy crowd to a familiar experience. Unfortunately, for Square at least, Forspoken has failed in almost every way. Review and user scores on Metacritic point to a bland mess with a confused story and boring action. Oh, and a companion that refuses to be quiet. Not great things when looking to create the next big RPG for your studio.
It wasn’t just in the critical field that Forspoken failed, however. Not appearing in the top 10 best-selling games chart on Steam in the first week of release is an indication that your game may not be the instant classic you were hoping it would be. This is amplified when considering that a game releasing at the same time (Hi-Fi Rush) has earned a spot in the top 10. Hi-Fi Rush has received gleaming reviews- and is even at a 98% overwhelmingly positive score on Steam. This praise is reflected in sales figures too since the game is currently the eighth-best-selling game on the platform- despite several factors seemingly working against it.
Hi-Fi Rush was shadow-dropped a few hours after its announcement trailer- which is a risky move in itself, but it was a strategy that worked for developers Tango Gameworks. The game was trending on Twitter above all of the other games at the showcase (including the much-anticipated Redfall) and the overwhelmingly positive feedback didn’t do much harm either. One big aspect working against Hi-Fi Rush was its very niche genre. Rhythm games aren’t all too popular- especially ones that take risks like this. Although a masterful combination, a game merging third-person action, platforming, and rhythm-based timing could have been a disaster of half-baked ideas. Instead, its innovation placed it above the comparatively dull Forspoken. It’s a net positive result for the game industry- showing how innovation (despite how seemingly doomed) can best cliche.
However, the biggest surprise about Hi-Fi Rush outselling Forspoken is its presence on Game Pass. If you’re a game pass member, you can receive Hi-Fi Rush on PC for free (well, for £10.99 per month including hundreds of other games). That being the case, Hi-Fi Rush reaching number 8 on the Steam charts which, of course, does not include Game Pass subscribers is incredible. It means that enough people decided to buy Hi-Fi Rush for £26.99 on release- even though you could pick it up for free through a membership. Despite all odds, Hi-Fi Rush is a roaring financial and critical success and manages to forge the way forward for innovation above safe bets. Despite how much money is put into marketing, quality always rises to the top.
