Jan 17

Jan 17 Hi-Fi Rush Coming To Switch Is Bad For Xbox, And You Really Shouldn’t Care

It’s been a tough week for Gamers (with the capital G). As we look forward to CES (which is definitely over by the time you’re reading this), Naughty Dog’s fourth remaster of the generation, a new 2D Prince of Persia (no, really) and the return of my favourite gaming soap opera with Tekken 8, all Gamers (again, capital G) can seemingly talk about is Xbox exclusivity.

For those who have been lucky enough to miss this shitstorm (or simply don’t look at Twitter or rabid gaming Reddits), on January 5th, podcaster NateTheHate claimed that he had heard a critically acclaimed Xbox Game Studios title was coming to competing platforms. Following this, ResetEra user lolilolailo claimed that the game in question was Hi-Fi Rush, the rhythm-action game developed by Tango Gameworks that received acclaim and awards in 2023. They also added the detail that Hi-Fi Rush was allegedly coming to the Nintendo Switch.

This was then followed by multiple reports and a lot of speculation. Windows Central claimed that multiple Xbox games would be coming to other platforms, while Jeff Grubb claimed he had heard Sea of Thieves could be one of these games. This was followed up by a report from Stephen Totilo on his Substack Game File. Before the end of day fans began to speculate about other games that could come to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, from smaller, more niche titles like Pentiment, to Xbox’s flagship franchise, Halo.

It’s been understood for a while that Xbox are pushing Game Pass and want to expand into the services company first and foremost. Its recent acquisitions of Zenimax and Activision-Blizzard-King have led to it technically becoming one of the biggest publishers on PlayStation and Nintendo systems (and that’s only if we count Minecraft and Call of Duty). That paired with Microsoft honouring Bethesda’s exclusivity deals with Sony for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo paints the picture of a company rather done with the Console Wars of SNES and Mega Drive days - even if some of its fans are still fighting in the trenches.

Microsoft also has a particularly good relationship with Nintendo, bringing games such as Ori and the Blind Forest to the Switch and lending out characters like Banjo and Steve to Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Microsoft has even taken the time to go through decades of red tape and M&As to bring older Rare titles to a rival’s subscription service - with Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini and even GoldenEye to the collection of Nintendo 64 games available to subscribers on Nintendo Switch Online.

So with all of that recent history laid out, none of this should be surprising to Xbox users. This strategy has been communicated by Phil Spencer and the team at Xbox for years through their words and even more by the company’s actions. Since Microsoft’s acquisition of Mojang and Minecraft in 2014, it has been the most open of the console manufacturers to publishing games on rival platforms, and no one should have expected that to stop.

Xbox players have, of course, begun to lose their collective minds on social media. As console fanboys often do, Xbox players have taken the notion that Xbox Games Studios may bring some of its titles to other systems as an attack on them as players. The belief, and fear, from the Xbox audience is that by taking these games to other platforms, the value of the Xbox brand will falter and their commitment to the brand will be undermined. The fear is ultimately, that this will be bad for Xbox, and if i’m honest, I think they’re right.

Xbox has always been in a strange position. PlayStation has sold more systems than Xbox for four console generations. The only generation where Xbox had a particularly large share of the market was when the Xbox 360 got a year head start on the PS3, and even then, that mostly came down to the North American market. PlayStation has always had the lead in Japan and Europe, and Nintendo has always played its own game with a oft referenced blue ocean strategy.

The pivot to Game Pass over the last few years has been fantastic for the brand, and has successfully given Xbox its own niche, rather than, at best, directly competing with a more popular product, and at worst, picking away at PlayStation’s scraps. Xbox existing across PC, Console and the Cloud makes entry into the Xbox ecosystem easy and accessible. The average consumer understands that PC and mobile are totally acceptable ways to be part of the Xbox family if you don’t have an Xbox Series X|S.

The decision to bring Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves to PlayStation and/or Switch would only serve to muddy the waters for Xbox players and the ecosystem as a whole. Unlike the previous games released on multiple platforms (Minecraft, Bethesda games with pre-existing deals, and long running multiplat franchises like Call of Duty), these ones are seen as true Xbox exclusives. The entire notion of needing an Xbox to play Xbox games comes into question if these games are inevitably going to come to other consoles.It worth remembering that as of now, PC is not viewed by anyone as a true competitor to Xbox hardware. PC and mobile are additive to the Xbox experience. Conversely, I don’t believe that Xbox games on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation are additive to the Xbox ecosystem, and only serves Xbox in the short-term. Even if games such as Halo and Gears of War are never coming to other systems, from now on it will always be in question if games like Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves will come to other systems.

I sincerely believe that this move will be damaging to the Xbox brand in the long run. I believe it will undermine its position as a competitor to PlayStation, Nintendo, Apple and even Amazon in the gaming space. Ultimately, it will position them as a competitor to companies like Tencent and Electronic Arts - publishers, not platforms. I just don’t think that Gamers (the capital G is back) should really care.

Being a fanboy basically requires you to view marketing as something like a competitive sport. That’s why it's so easy to become one, it feels good when your team wins, and if you spent thousands of dollars on a console and a library of games, you can bet your ass you’re invested in the brand like you are a sports team. That emotional investment in a brand is powerful and it’s something most gamers (and consumers in general) will experience in life. While Xbox fans can be ravenous, they’re certainly not the worst set of fans on social media, hell, Chevy and Ford motorheads have been going at it since before there was an internet. Today it’s Xbox fans, but tomorrow it could be Nintendo or PlayStation fans over something equally as banal, and, depending on who you ask, they’ll still never be as bad as Disney or Zack Snyder fans (and I, the author, love all five of those things). The reality is, however, that getting angry over these things is something that children do. It’s something I did at the mature age of ten. These choices will not affect your life in any meaningful way, and you are not beholden to a billion-dollar corporation. You are not on their team.

Xbox may suffer as a brand for this choice, but consumers won’t. Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves are seemingly coming to other platforms long after their initial release. It’s very unlikely that Xbox starts offering these games on rival platforms day-and-date with Xbox Game Pass. Xbox users continue to get these games as a way to leverage its subscription service, while PlayStation and Nintendo players will have to pay full price for these games - but, if they only have a PS5 or Switch, then they’ll have the option of checking some great experiences out nonetheless. Xbox gamers lose absolutely nothing with these games coming to other platforms.

I wonder what Peter Molyneux thinks about all this.

In fact, I believe Xbox players have something to gain from this. Rare and Tango Gameworks are two studios that could likely use the injection of cash flow that would come as a result of these releases, and moreover, an injection of interest and penetration into the zeitgeist. More people playing Hi-Fi Rush only strengthens the franchise. PlayStation and Nintendo users may even be tempted to join the Xbox ecosystem for the inevitable sequel that would be cheaper to play on Xbox and would likely arrive on that platform earlier. Meanwhile, Sea of Thieves is a live-service game. All of the manufacturers should be putting their live-service games on every platform. By gaining new players, these studios won’t just see the benefit of new copies of the game being sold, but more players means more money spent on microtransactions, and bigger and healthier communities. All of this money and interest serves to give these studios more opportunities to add to these games and create new experiences.

It’s very unlikely that Hi-Fi Rush coming a year later and Sea of Thieves coming 6 years later to a rival platform will result in the next Halo or Forza coming to PlayStation day-and-date with Xbox.

Xbox fans need to accept that in a post Zenimax and Activision-Blizzard-King acquisition world, Xbox will bring select titles to other platforms when it feels it makes sense. This may undermine the Xbox console business, but they aren’t dumb at Xbox. The team at Xbox don’t want to fight it out in the console business when the company is carving out its own new business all to itself. Xbox has a strategy, and it's doing this for a reason. Just as it has been picking and choosing with Zenimax titles, and just like it will pick and choose with Activision-Blizzard-King titles, Xbox will make individual choices with its library and this will be to serve its total revenue, not just its console business. You and I may not see the vision, but someone at Xbox does, and that’s all you should care about. Just enjoy these games and enjoy the fact that more people will get to experience them. More people playing Hi-Fi Rush can't be a bad thing.