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Post Script
A shadow drop of what the future holds?
As aposter child for the current state of Xbox, Hi-Fi Rush is a slightly unusual pick: a second project from a studio Microsoft owns at two steps removed, via the Bethesda acquisition, with a breezy presentation that invites you not to take it too seriously. And yet the circumstances of its arrival mean we can’t help but think of it in terms of the bigger picture – one that’s not quite as pretty as the game itself.
Hi-Fi Rush was announced and immediately released at Xbox’s inaugural Developer Direct, a showcase that promised to put the spotlight on the people who actually make these things. Which comes as a rather bitter irony, given that the event came in the immediate wake of Microsoft announcing it would be laying off 10,000 people across its business, including various game teams. As such, Hi-Fi Rush arrived with added baggage when it was already carrying plenty, simply by being the first game launched by the platform holder in 2023, following a sluggish year that brought just two firstparty releases. The Direct was positioned as a promise that this drought is now behind us, with Redfall and Minecraft Legends both gaining imminent release dates.