We understand music and movies to be artistic endeavors. Studios and labels don't let artists outright lose money all day, but as long as the record is good, it's worth. We celebrate indie artists and ones that make small scale profit, because they're "more about the art than the money", and we view that as a positive. Giant record labels will sometimes fund smaller labels that don't necessarily turn a profit themselves, in an effort to support (patronize) artists that wouldn't be able to do it otherwise. That's considered a normal thing to do in the industry, and at times, a necessary thing to do. If you're making billions off of Drake/Taylor/Flavoroftheweek, you can afford to lose a little bit on Earnest Artist that Pitchfork Loves, and the world is a better place for it. We see movies do this all the time as well. So, why not video games? Hi-Fi Rush is an artistic slam dunk of a game, and one that brought in millions of dollars in revenue. The Vice-President of Xbox Marketing himself said, "HFR was a breakout hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn't be happier with the team at Tango Gameworks." So why on earth is the team behind it being punished? Why aren't they enabled to make a sophomore album that can catalyze their fans? Why isn't their unique entry into the world of games celebrated as the artistic victory that it is? Because the powers that be don't look at studios as artists--they look at them as employees. The mentality is that these employees are cogs, just TPS report filers that can be replaced by any recent graduate eager enough to be underpaid. Anyone can "just code" and export a game-of-the-year nominated masterpiece. There is no understanding of video games as an art form. There is no desire to learn of it, or speak of it. Only to profit from it. There is no concept of patronage. No support. No sowing. The message is grim. These companies are reapers. The message from the corporate world is clear: Games are a commodity, not an art form.