Hi-Fi Rush had an internal cult following at Bethesda before it was even introduced

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The potential was evident early on.

Hi-Fi Rush is the new hotness that everyone has been talking about for the past week. It had a surprise release last week and was announced as a new rhythm action game from Tango Gameworks, best known for the 2022 releases of The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo. Hi-Fi Rush was definitely a big surprise, and it’s already getting tons of praise for its innovative mechanics.

Game creator and director John Johanas spoke to MinnMax in an interview this week to talk about the origins of the game and the pitching process, which you can read in its entirety below.

Johanas mentioned that when developing the core concept, he wanted to create a rhythm action game that is both accessible and feels good. He cited comparisons to indie favorite Crypt of the Necrodancer, a game about moving and attacking to the beat, but also mentioned how the game would punish you if you weren’t able to actually keeping to the beat.

Hi-Fi Rush is different in one crucial way: when you attack, your punches always land on the beat. You’ll be rewarded for timing your hits, of course, but the point was that the game would feel good and satisfying no matter what.

Speaking about the pitching process, Johanas mentioned that he decided to work on a prototype, a proof of concept, before properly pitching it to Bethesda. After spending some time designing the UI, core action mechanics, and various levels, prototyping began to matter even to Bethesda staff. It had garnered quite a bit of buzz within the company itself, and Johanas describes it as something of an “internal cult following” before he even officially unveiled it to Bethesda.

This definitely worked in his favor since by the time he was ready to pitch, the higher ups at Bethesda had already heard about the game, which undoubtedly made the pitching process a little smoother.

Hi-Fi Rush is now available on PC and Xbox.