Hypercharge: Unboxed Sells 100,000 Copies on Xbox, And It’s Only Just Getting Started

[u/Xbox-Moderator]

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/06/28/hypercharge-unboxed-sells-100000-copies/

[u/zrkillerbush]

Honestly that's an insane success story for a relatively small team

You can tell they know how to market their game

[u/Cbone06 → u/zrkillerbush]

A lot of their marketing tbf was sit tight, it’s coming to XBox! Saw these videos a ton on Instagram via them and occasionally IGN iirc. They definitely have leaned into their gimmick of “toys fighting to the death in a child’s imagination”, which is honestly a pretty cool concept. I’m sure tons of kids have had play battles before with their toys and action figures.

The game looks super cool, I was pretty interested in it. It took so long to come out that I just lost interest.

[u/CaptConstantine → u/Cbone06]

There is a demo on Steam.

It's... fine. It is what it says on the box (action figures shooting each other in human-sized environments), and that is about it. The gameplay reminds me a bit of Halo but not nearly as clean. The character models and unlocks are fine and the "packaging" is a fun concept but it would be more fun with licensed brands / toys all mixed together.

Really the problem on steam is player count. It dropped off very fast after release and IIRC the devs are basically hoping that Xbox will give the base a shot in the arm.

I will play it more when it comes to game pass.

[u/BeastMaster0844 → u/zrkillerbush]

I honestly have never heard of this game and I spend a shit ton of time on Reddit.. way more time than I should. So I can’t say how good their marketing is because typically I’m aware of these hot new games that people are high on.

[u/Neoshadow42 → u/BeastMaster0844]

They are also very big on tiktok, the Dev has been doing devlogs and streaming there for well over a year.

Honestly, I think Reddit is kinda bad for smaller games. For me, Reddit is great for mid-size indie games and up, but a lot falls through the cracks. I find tiktok and especially twitter amazing for much smaller stuff.

[u/zrkillerbush → u/BeastMaster0844]

They have been doing well on Twitter for the past year in terms of marketing the game

[u/BeastMaster0844 → u/zrkillerbush]

Ah, that’d be it then. I don’t use Twitter. Just Reddit and Facebook and occasionally tiktok.

[u/idontknow1001 → u/BeastMaster0844]

I think it’s a five man team and one dude does the marketing along with some other stuff.

[u/theumph → u/BeastMaster0844]

It's been out for years. I was looking into it, but people said the servers on PC were dead. Glad to hear they are making some head way on it.

[u/Nodan_Turtle → u/BeastMaster0844]

I kept seeing it on Reddit, such as on this sub:

here and here and here and here and here

And then on the XboxSeriesX sub:

here and here and here and here and here and here and here

And then there are several additional posts to those, with users talking about the game and general ones from Xbox about upcoming games that included this one. Since you're active in both subs, the reason you didn't see it isn't because it wasn't talked about or wasn't marketed. You probably just didn't bother to click any of the dozens of threads about it lol

[u/[deleted] → u/BeastMaster0844]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/BeastMaster0844 → u/[deleted]]

How is that self importance? Someone said their marketing was great.. I simply said I’d never heard of it and gave a reason why I would have heard of it.

Seems like you’re just angry for no reason.

[u/[deleted] → u/BeastMaster0844]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/xbox-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for your submission. Unfortunately, your post has been removed for the following reason: Rule 1

Keep discussion civil

Please remember:

• Discuss the topic, not other users.

• Be respectful - even in disagreement.

• Your point can be made without belittling others.

Please see our entire ruleset for further details.

[u/BeastMaster0844 → u/[deleted]]

lol okay bud. All I said was I can’t say how good it is because I haven’t seen their marketing. Would you prefer I comment on whether their marketing is good or not despite never having saw it? Is that what you do? Just comment on things you aren’t informed on?

Get over yourself.

[u/NineSlider → u/zrkillerbush]

Why is everyone so obsessed with marketing now every conversation about a game is based on its marketing, new internet buzzword I guess.

[u/Mosswood_Dreadknight → u/NineSlider]

Video game fans get so invested in business and marketing (which most of them know nothing about) that it’s hilarious. Just go play the games, guys. Don’t validate your fandom based on marketing tactics and business successes.

[u/zrkillerbush → u/NineSlider]

I mean specifically that is the main reason this game has sold well (apart from it being a decent game of course)

The game peaked at 1641 players 2 years ago on Steam and currently has 61 players right now on steam, it's very likely the game has sold more in a month on Xbox than it has in 2 years on Steam

[u/NineSlider → u/zrkillerbush]

When you say the game has sold well because of its marketing where are you getting that from?

[u/cubs223425 → u/NineSlider]

It's what corporations do and want. Note how you only get positive sales information. You don't have them come out and say what sales are when it's bad.

To boot, marketing has value. If it didn't Microsoft wouldn't be injecting ads into the Xbox some screen and games wouldn't be injecting irritating ads into their menus and games (NBA 2K...). When customers know little about a game, be it the release or the experience it offers, what's goign to convince them to buy it?

Marketing isn't a buzzword. It's a core component of selling a product. Saying marketing is a buzzword is like calling game development a buzzword. It's not like we're talking about the synergy of the game and the marketing or the AI used to make the game special. It's a directly impactful way for people to become customers and put the product on the market.

If you wonder what it's like when Microsoft DOESN'T marklet something, go check out the Microsoft Band.

[u/NineSlider → u/cubs223425]

I know what marketing is, and I agree it has value, but the narrative people put on most games lately is that they did well because they had good marketing and poorly because they didn't. A bad game can have great marketing and still do poorly because it's a bad game. A great game can have no marketing and be wildly successful. Marketing helps, but it isn't everything, like Reddit seems to believe lately.

[u/cubs223425 → u/NineSlider]

What examples would you say indicate that?

The only big example I've seen is Hellblade, and I understand the argument. Hellblade wasn't marketed well. The game has things about it where I understand negative feedback, but I also think the marketing for it was poor. Both in setting expectations for the game and getting word out about its launch didn't happen well.

I don't remember marketing being a meaningful angle for Redfall or Forza or Starfield or other releases. I don't think marketing is what credited Sony for success with its bigger exclusives.

Truthfully, Microsoft's marketing is utter garbage. I've had an Xbox (sometimes multiple) for over 20 years. I've owned multiple Windows phones and currently have a Surface Duo 2. I've had multiple Zunes. I've talked people into those things and others with Microsoft. The marketing behind Microsoft products is often very bad.

[u/LivingwithED → u/zrkillerbush]

I’m glad they went this way instead of a one time gamepass payment. Really working for them.

[u/Bulky_Exercise8936 → u/LivingwithED]

How do you know it's one time? Has there been information on how MS pays for games on gamepass?

[u/MikeLanglois]

Happy to be one of the 100k. The games fantastic, hope it keeps on going

[u/CrossBones3129 → u/MikeLanglois]

They’ve been updating consistently? Online was broke on launch for me. Haven’t touched since

[u/Huge_Swimming240 → u/CrossBones3129]

I played like a week or so after launch and online has worked flawlessly

[u/BatMatt93 → u/CrossBones3129]

That's just par for the course with multiplayer on any games launch day.

[u/Pleasant-Speed-9414]

I didn’t know there was a third person mode. My interest just went up quite a bit.

A friend was telling me we should scoop this game, since it has “old school summer” vibes. So could see us playing before summer is over

[u/BECondensateSnake]

Goddamn just on Xbox? That's so great especially for a small game, they deserve it.

[u/pukem0n → u/BECondensateSnake]

And a game that failed on steam and switch. Kinda puts the Xbox gamers don't buy games Argument to shame.

[u/My_Ex_Got_Fat → u/pukem0n]

I bought it on steam a year or so back, it just didn't play well with buds. Def will load it up and give it another shot though. Glad it found success on Xbox for sure!

[u/foreveraloneasianmen → u/pukem0n]

Lol

[u/BECondensateSnake → u/pukem0n]

Also the recent announcement about Stellar Blade selling just 1 mil (which is great for a new IP btw) really changed the narrative.

[u/gllamphar → u/BECondensateSnake]

That has always been a lie. It will be interesting to see the numbers on Xbox One/Segies Gen, but at the end of the gen attahcment rate between PS and Xbox is pretty much the same. Attachment rate is the average of games each console owner buys for the system.

[u/Tobimacoss → u/BECondensateSnake]

same for the Final Fantasy exclusives, like FFVIIR2 only selling 2 million. Those games never should've been exclusive to begin with. Hopefully, lesson learned for Square Enix.

[u/F0REM4N]

If you'd like to read more about Hypercharge, I've included a few AMA links. The developers' passion for the game is evident in the amount of time they dedicate to engaging with the players. It's awesome to see the success.

• Last month's AMA

• Previous AMA on XSX from two years ago

[u/Hauz20]

Keep meaning to check this one out

[u/GINTegg64]

Played a demo a long time ago and really enjoyed it. Happy to see such a unique and colorful shooter see such success

[u/flysly]

I'm really enjoying it. Definitely recommend.

[u/Cgking11]

I'm waiting for the gamepass version, hopefully lol.

[u/Quinn07plu]

That's great as someone who also purchased ( breaking the law of the internet that Xbox player don't buy games) It a fun game my kids enjoy an I sometimes find myself losing a couple hours as well.

[u/Legendary-Icon]

I wish the game was better, but I’m holding out hope that it’s more enjoyable with friends.

[u/lavalamp360]

But the internet told me Xbox players don't buy games /s

[u/MDClassic]

I literally just purchased and refunding this game within 24 hours it’s not terrible it’s very co-op and I don’t have any friends that sucks so I refunded it I’m sorry I’m am wrong.

[u/Bulky-Complaint6994]

"BuT XbOtS dOnT bUy GaMeS?!"

[u/Capta1nKrunch]

I just wish the guns weren't as clunky.

[u/Camerone11 → u/Capta1nKrunch]

Yea I typically just stick with the default gun now and do much better.

[u/evanvivevanviveiros]

I was waiting for a sale until I heard about the small dev team. Even bought the dlc!

[u/JkCorleone]

Cool, I saw several videos of the game on Instagram, it looks fun 

[u/nonamestho]

🔥🔥love this game. Just got the Teddy skin and Lego head

[u/BillyBabushka]

well deserved, game is tons of fun

[u/BillyDip]

I find it weird that they paid a bunch of people to tweet about the milestone but none of them disclosed it was an ad.

[u/Steelcity19]

I do plan on getting this eventually

[u/CigarLover]

Is this game cross play?

[u/lolguy545]

But Stellar Blade selling a million copies in two months by a small team is apparently a flop according to you guys?

[u/Select-Let8637]

I thought gamepass was killing sales WTF

[u/Redbacontruck]

Hear nothing but good things about this game

[u/Fivebag]

Played it and really don’t get the hype, tried to play but ended up quitting before game finished. Can someone enlighten me on what’s good about this game?

[u/Nzclarky123]

Any plans for game pass?

[u/Narutoblaa]

I may be old but to me its weird saying digitally sold copies.god for them though

[u/Mosswood_Dreadknight]

Is this good or is it PalWorld?

[u/SenseWitFolly → u/Mosswood_Dreadknight]

It's been out on Switch since 2020. The dev team is small and they are very community-focused. It's not a Palworld situation.

[u/Camerone11 → u/Mosswood_Dreadknight]

Palworld tbh, but I’m hoping they can continue to grow their player base and provide good updates. It can be hard to find a match in certain modes, and matchmaking is odd at times.

[u/Mosswood_Dreadknight → u/Camerone11]

Mid ass internet fad games are becoming easier to predict every time they happen.

[u/Camerone11 → u/Mosswood_Dreadknight]

Tbf, I’ve been following this game for a while and it has been out for some time on other consoles/steam. I think it’s a refreshing multiple game and a good shooter, but it comes from a small dev team and it’s good for what it is. I’m still enjoying my time with it.

[u/DemiDivine]

I've never even heard of the game..hero shooter I assume?