Hi-Fi Rush And The Art Of The Shadow Drop

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Original Article: This week at the Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct Showcase, Tango Games announced Hi-Fi Rush a new rhythm-based action game with a slick comic book art style and tight hack ‘n slash gameplay, and when can you play it: right now.

Hi-Fi Rush was shadow-dropped, which means it was released at the same time it was announced with no prior marketing or build-up, and even without these common necessities for a video game, it was a huge hit.

This is especially surprising as shadow drops are incredibly risky. A shadow drop means that game will not have any pre-release marketing to help sell the concept to the consumer, relying almost purely on word of mouth. Not a lot of games could pull this off, but Hi-Fi Rush did, so let’s analyze why.

The Problems with Shadow Drops

An important part of any marketing of any product is the communication period between reveal and release, this is the time when the publisher needs to tell the audience what the game is and why they should care. It’s an essential part of marketing a game that can really make or break a game.

Just look at Strangers of Paradise Final Fantasy Origins. When first revealed, the game was mocked for its corny dialogue and odd tone for a Final Fantasy game yet as more information about the game and why characters like Jack Garland seemed so out of place, people started to warm up to the game and now its consider a hidden gem of sorts.

A shadow-dropped game however doesn’t have that safety. It goes out and there’s no guarantee it’ll get any traction, making Hi-Fi’s success all the more unique. Probably the best example of just how badly a shadow drop can be is the North American launch of the SEGA Saturn.

The SEGA Saturn’s American Launch

The SEGA Saturn was actually known prior to its release having already been launched in Japan in 1994 and was planned to launch in the Fall of 1995 in America. SEGA however was concerned since it would have to compete with the original PlayStation that was also launching in the region around the same time.

As such on May 11th, 1995, at the very first E3, SEGA of America President Tom Kalinske took to the stage to speak about The Saturn and announced that it was not just coming, but it was out. They shadow-dropped the launch of the Saturn for that day and you could go to a store and pick one up after the conference for $399 USD. It would even come with the arcade hit Virtua Fighter as the pack-in game.

The Sega Saturn’s Shadow Drop

The move was an early viral marketing stunt, surprising consumers with the release to create hype for the console. Sadly, the shadow drop backfired. As pointed out by Forbes, SEGA didn’t prepare their business partners for the early release, only stocking Saturns at four retail chains and not allowing enough time for games to be developed or localized meaning there were only six titles at launch.

On the consumer side of things, the early release meant the console had little to no marketing campaign. Remember, this was in a pre-internet world, where E3 was brand new. SEGA holding a surprise launch didn’t get through to many consumers who would only hear about it over TV Ads, or Print who’d only be able to talk about it in their next issue. The result was that audiences knew little about The Saturn, its new release date, or the games coming out for it.

The SEGA Saturn’s bad launch shows what can go wrong with shadow dropping. Consumers need time to learn about a product and prepare to purchase it, and the lack of communication the stunt caused led to The Saturn’s poor sales. It was a lesson the competing PlayStation learned well as they used those extra 1995 months to hold a mass marketing campaign to sell their console at a cheaper price ($299).

The Modern-Day Shadow Drop

It’s been almost 30 years since SEGA Saturn’s launch however and much has changed in technology and consumer culture to allow shadow drops to work a lot better but they’re still risky. So, what made the Hi-Fi Rush shadow drop different?

We don’t have a confirmed answer but I would argue it started with the pedigree. Hi-Fi Rush had access to a lot of assets that other games didn’t. It’s the first party title for the Xbox and was positioned as the highlight of their new showcase, a live stream bound to be watched by millions. Furthermore, it’s made by Tango Game Works, an accomplished developer founded by the legendary Shinji Mikami, the man that made Resident Evil. With a background like that, it was bound to turn heads.

This is important as modern gaming culture puts much more emphasis on the people making video games with many willing to buy a game based on developer reputation alone.

Try It On GamePass

There’s also the fact that the game was fairly cheap, only going for $30 USD and if you had the increasingly popular Xbox GamePass, it was completely free and could be downloaded directly to your console/PC within a day. With such a strong initial jolt from the Showcase that low entry fee meant a large number of people would be willing to at least give it a try and perhaps even snap it up in a spontaneous purchase.

From there the game quickly spread over social media. People who tried it out quickly spread posted their opinions, articles, and videos across the net, bringing more attention to the game. The word-of-mouth advertising for Hi-Fi has been as bright as its vibrant cell-shaded graphics.

Ultimately, Xbox was able to take advantage of modern technology like streaming and the faster transfer of information over the internet to shadow drop Hi-Fi Rush and give it the push it needed to truly go viral.

Closing Thoughts

Hi-Fi Rush isn’t the only recent game to do well with a shadow drop, as games like Apex Legends, PT (even if it was a teaser), and most recently Metroid Prime HD Remaster also had successful surprise launches. Furthermore, they all followed similar trends to Hi-Fi. They were games backed by big publishers or developers and sold at a low price point if not free of charge. Even indie game shadow drops like Hollow Knight’s port to Switch were pushed forward because the game already built a reputation for being excellent.

While it’s fun to believe that anyone can just pop a new game out of nowhere, shadow drops are still difficult and require the right product to pull them off. The right product, however, usually means games that can at least initially sell on name recognition alone and for a price people will be willing to pay on the spot.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t be seeing more shadow drops in the future. The fact that Hi-Fi Rush was so successful means that major publishers may see it as a viable marketing strategy in the future and we could very see more drops when we least expect them.