Even though the game has been around for a few years, hypercharge is shaping up to be one of the most interesting games on Steam, and in the future it will also come to Xbox and Playstation. the recent success of hypercharge comes from various social media posts that went viral showcasing the unique gameplay cycle that the developers at Digital Cybercherries have been working on since 2015, when the UK-based studio was founded. However, the path to the top was not easy; the development of hypercharge it had its challenges.
what are you doing hypercharge stands out from other shooting games is that it hits the nail on the head with 90s nostalgia by having a cast of different action figures to choose from and customize, as well as the typical scale of movies like toy story Y little soldiers. The game has now landed on Steam’s front page as a top seller multiple times, and its Xbox release window appears to be set for Q1 2023, nearly 8 years since development began. Digital Cybercherries’ Joe Henson spoke to Game Rant about the development process. hypercharge was for the independent team, and what kind of trials and tribulations they had to face.
How Hypercharge went viral despite the difficulties
One thing that Henson has said multiple times is that the game has hit a rough patch over the years due to lack of funding and how tough things have been, but it’s also true that hyperchargethe story of it is one of persistence and commitment. hypercharge It first hit Steam digital shelves back in 2017 as an early access title, but due to a combination of things, the game basically flopped, much to the dismay of its creators. However, Digital Cybercherries didn’t give up and instead essentially gave it a second early access release in 2019 by overhauling everything and adding more co-op elements to the mix.
Even though the game was getting better, 2019 was a tough time for the team as several developers, including Henson, were working for a living and spending overtime on hypercharge when it is possible. Yet, hypercharge then released on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, and it started to become more clear that the interest in action figures and nostalgic co-op gaming was there. Between success on Switch, growing popularity on social media, and hypercharge finally hitting the correct audience on Steamthe game quickly went viral multiple times over the course of 2022.
“So far, one thing I noticed, I think especially Xbox gamers were very vocal about how they wanted a game like Hypercharge on that platform because it has local co-op split screen and PvP split screen, which has become rare. One of the first tweets I made went viral. I wanted to see what people would think of us bringing this game to Xbox even though there wasn’t a date yet.”
This caught the attention of Xbox, which offered Digital Cybercherries the means to have hypercharge release on their next-gen consoles, and the indie game racked up a total of over 40,000 Xbox newsletter subscribers in just two weeks. However, part of this success stems from the fact that Henson had to go through a dark time when, as the sole developer responsible for the marketing and public relations of hypercharge, they often sent him threats and abusive emails regarding the Xbox launch window. Henson didn’t share this with the rest of the team, but he eventually spoke up.
Henson shared a tweet that said developers shouldn’t deal with community abuse and toxicity over a release date, which made the post go viral. Henson received many messages of support from other game developers, especially as the topic has been a big one in the industry recently due to the situation regarding God of War: Ragnarokrelease date. Finally, hyperchargeThe success of Digital Cybercherries is also due to Digital Cybercherries advocating for mental health in an industry where this is often a stigma, and doing so at the right time.
“I released a statement, and at this point I hadn’t realized what the developers of God of War and their studio were up against, and in my statement I asked that they stop demanding an Xbox release date, stop sending threats and also something about the mental health side of things for developers. That went viral, it blew up. I couldn’t believe we had all these fans and this support.”
hypercharge is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. PlayStation and Xbox versions are in development.
