How Hi-Fi Rush director John Johanas defied expectations to create Tango Gameworks’ boldest innovation
The Genesis of a Creative Departure
John Johanas, the visionary director behind Hi-Fi Rush, provides exclusive insights into how this genre-defying game emerged from a studio known for horror.
In an exclusive Dexerto interview, Hi-Fi Rush director John Johanas reveals the creative journey behind crafting a game that deliberately contrasted with his previous horror works and stood apart from market conventions.
The overwhelming success of Hi-Fi Rush caught the gaming world completely off guard. Its surprise announcement during Xbox’s January 2023 Developer Direct, followed by immediate release, represented not just a dramatic shift in artistic direction for Tango Gameworks but also broke conventional marketing strategies. Players who experienced it immediately recognized they were witnessing something truly special.
Prior to its Developer Direct reveal, the game existed in complete secrecy—no promotional trailers, no preview demos, absolutely zero pre-release hype. This stealth launch strategy carried significant commercial risks rarely seen in modern gaming. Despite these challenges, the title’s vibrant aesthetic and innovative rhythm combat mechanics captured widespread attention and acclaim.
Tango Gameworks, previously celebrated for The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo, delivered their most colorful project to date—a dramatic stylistic shift from their John Carpenter-inspired horror roots toward something reminiscent of Edgar Wright’s energetic filmmaking.
What creative process brought this unexpected masterpiece to life? We conducted an in-depth interview with the game’s director to uncover the complete story.
Following his work directing The Evil Within 2 and seven years immersed in horror development, John Johanas felt compelled to explore new creative territory. While Ghostwire: Tokyo continued development as the studio’s next major release, Tango faced increasing categorization as exclusively a horror development team.
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Johanas emphasized the urgency, stating, “If we intended to explore different creative directions, we needed to act immediately before becoming permanently typecast as horror specialists.”
This period marked a crucial opportunity for the studio to develop something fundamentally different. However, Johanas clarified they weren’t seeking change merely for novelty’s sake—the project needed authentic justification for its distinctive approach.
Remarkably, Tango’s founder Shinji Mikami—legendary creator behind Resident Evil, Phoenix Wright, and numerous classics—shared this perspective completely.
“Mikami-san similarly rejected the idea of limiting the studio to horror exclusivity. He essentially said: ‘We’ve discussed diversification long enough—now let’s implement these ideas.'”
Thus began the realization of Johanas and his team’s vision: creating a brighter, more vibrant, and fundamentally different gaming experience that would redefine Tango’s creative identity.
Pitching the Impossible
Johanas famously described Hi-Fi Rush as the most “un-Bethesda” title in their publishing catalog. Like all major projects, it began with a formal pitch process.
“Consider it a two-stage process,” Johanas detailed, explaining the initial phase. “I first presented the concept internally to Tango Gameworks as our next compelling development opportunity—something that genuinely excited us as creators.”
Shinji Mikami, attending that internal presentation, offered his full endorsement. “Mikami-san evaluated the project and responded: ‘This demonstrates real innovation, presents fascinating possibilities, and represents both a departure from our previous work and an excellent creative challenge.'”
Fortunately for the development team, a Bethesda executive producer also attended the pitch meeting and acknowledged the concept’s appeal. However, this executive remained somewhat skeptical.
“I explicitly framed it as the least Bethesda-style game imaginable. Their response essentially confirmed: ‘We agree—corporate approval seems highly unlikely,'” Johanas recalled with humor regarding the anonymous executive’s reaction.
The pitching session concluded without universal agreement. Before receiving development approval, the team received instructions to create a functional prototype—minus the distinctive visual style—to demonstrate their core concept since many decision-makers struggled to conceptualize it theoretically.
“Nobody anticipates a horror studio developing this type of enjoyable rhythm-action experience… What does that description even convey in documentation?” Johanas remembered. “During that initial meeting, participants genuinely didn’t comprehend what rhythm-action gameplay entailed.”
However, the gameplay demonstrated in the playable prototype proved, as Johanas noted, “strikingly similar” to the final product, illustrating the team’s remarkably clear creative vision. “It’s essentially the identical game,” he confirmed.
In fact, the prototype itself represented such a dramatic departure from Tango’s established work that internal testers playing it remained unaware of its development origins.
“Testers experienced the prototype without knowledge of our involvement… Their reaction was overwhelmingly positive: ‘This delivers incredible fun! Who developed this? We should absolutely pursue this project.'”
Phase two involved presenting to Bethesda leadership. Armed with preliminary concept art (admittedly not fully finalized) and a beloved playable prototype, they approached the publishing giant for official project approval.
Ultimately, they secured the greenlight, though not without considerable hesitation. “While some expressed uncertainty—’This represents unfamiliar territory for us’—significant enthusiasm existed for pursuing innovative directions.”
Rhythm Action Revolution
When detailing combat inspiration sources, Johanas highlighted a specific action sequence from Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, clearly influencing the team’s creative direction.
This particular scene depicted the protagonists combating a zombie while their movements synchronized perfectly with Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Naturally, this concept evolved into their prototype build, which bore remarkable resemblance to the final release. However, rhythm-action as a genre lacked the recognition it enjoys today, before titles like Bullets Per Minute, Ape Out, and Sayonara Wild Hearts gained popularity.
“When originally pitching the game, I believed nothing comparable existed, making the concept worth pursuing,” Johanas explained regarding Hi-Fi Rush’s initial conception, noting they didn’t follow existing development trends.
Instead, he attributes the genre’s growing popularity to technological advancements enabling easier synchronization between audio elements and gameplay mechanics.
While earlier examples achieved moderate success, they didn’t perfectly capture the specific experience the team envisioned. “Those games failed to deliver the particular sensation I personally sought at that time,” he acknowledged.
“We aimed for that perfect fusion of character-action gaming—providing complete player control and character freedom—with seamless synchronization resembling music video aesthetics.”
This philosophy manifests brilliantly within the game’s combat system. During standard encounters, each strike from protagonist Chai creates the sensation that players are simultaneously improvising musical compositions while rhythmically wielding their improvised axe/mace weapon to pre-recorded tracks.
Even when featuring non-diegetic music from artists like Nine Inch Nails or Fiona Apple during combat sequences, the experience transcends mere atmospheric enhancement—every action feels precisely synchronized with the musical rhythm.
Proving the Concept
Did the gradual emergence of rhythm-action games diminish the team’s confidence in their vision? Quite the opposite—it actually validated their belief in the genre’s market viability and confirmed their creative trajectory.
“The trend actually provided reinforcement,” Johanas stated. “This demonstrated genuine audience demand. Developers creating these games, investing significant development resources, perhaps exploring different approaches, confirmed that combining music with gameplay inherently attracts an engaged audience.”
Practical Development Insight: For aspiring developers considering genre innovation, Hi-Fi Rush demonstrates the power of creating functional prototypes that showcase core mechanics without polished visuals. This approach helps decision-makers understand innovative concepts that may be difficult to convey through documentation alone.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Many developers make the mistake of pursuing differentiation merely for novelty’s sake. Hi-Fi Rush succeeded because its uniqueness served a clear creative purpose—breaking studio typecasting while delivering genuinely innovative gameplay that felt both fresh and purposeful.
Advanced Strategy: When pitching unconventional projects, frame them as calculated risks rather than complete departures. Hi-Fi Rush’s two-phase approval process—internal then external—allowed the team to refine their concept and build internal advocacy before facing publisher scrutiny.
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