A shooter went viral in 2022 because gamers wanted to return to their childhood rooms, yet the game still failed. However, the developers don’t mind that.
What kind of game is this? Hypercharge: Unboxed is a shooter where you take on the role of a toy action figure and dive into various toy battles. These lead you into a family’s garden, a toy store, or a child’s room. You can play in co-op against AI or other players.
The game went viral on Twitter (now X) in 2022. In a post discussing Hypercharge: Unboxed and the developers, there were numerous positive impressions. The post garnered over 380,000 “likes” and 43,000 retweets (via X).
What’s the status of the shooter? After the big hype, however, there was no success on Steam, so Hypercharge had almost consistently under 100 concurrent players. Nevertheless, the shooter later also released on Xbox and on May 30, 2025, on PlayStation.
In social networks, some players criticize the game and the developers for the PlayStation release, as they bring the toy shooter to a new platform even though the game is nearly dead on the old platforms. The developers have now commented on the topic.
“We made the game we always wanted as kids”
What do the developers say? The developers explain that they are happy, even without millions of players or sales. They are satisfied as long as someone enjoys playing the game in couch co-op with their child (via X).
Moreover, the developers emphasize that they are not lazy, but rather just a small five-person team that works hard to bring the game to the three big platforms. Generally, their work is not about financial success:
We don’t need millions of players online at the same time. Hypercharge is not a purely online game. You can play it however you want. And honestly, that’s perfectly fine. I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it until my death. Making games has never been about getting rich, becoming famous, or having the most concurrent players.
For us, being rich means waking up every day and doing what we love, with the people we love. It means creating something meaningful. We made the game we always wanted as kids. […] As long as we can pay our bills, feed our families, and continue to create what we hold dear, then yes, in our eyes, we are already rich. That’s what success means to us.
Hypercharge: Unboxed via X
Additionally, the developers state that it’s not a problem if they lose money or miss millions of players because they don’t rely on a free-to-play model and microtransactions. This allows them to continue sleeping soundly, as they don’t “violate what they believe in.”
What lies ahead for Hypercharge: Unboxed is currently unclear. There is no roadmap because the developers don’t want to commit to deadlines. The PlayStation release was the next major, important step that they have now successfully completed. According to the developers, the shooter has sold over 40,000 copies there in 3 days (via X).
Regarding player numbers, it is of course still unclear how long the small development team will continue to support the game and whether further content updates will follow. Personally, I had already anticipated in 2023 that the final death of Hypercharge could be imminent. You can read my failed prediction here: 5 Online Shooters that could die in 2023
