Hyper Light Drifter Studio Cancels Follow-Up Game Amidst Abysmal Player Numbers, Lays Off Staff
- Heart Machine cancels Hyper Light Breaker development, confirming layoffs and a final update planned for January 2026.
- Layoffs raise doubts about Possessor(s) and an unannounced 2D project.
- The studio’s new Patreon and past Sweet Baby Inc. ties spark criticism and suggestions of financial struggles.
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Breaking The Player’s Heart (Machine)
Heart Machine, the LA-based studio behind the well-regarded RPG Hyper Light Drifter, has announced the cancellation of its latest game, Hyper Light Breaker, despite this currently being available in Early Access. The announcement was made yesterday (Oct. 9) across the studio’s social media channels but not on the Steam page for the affected game, leading to a recent rash of negative reviews.
Hyper Light Breaker was released in January 2025 and is set in the same world as Hyper Light Drifter. However, whereas that game is a 2D top-down pixel-art action RPG, Breaker is a 3D open world roguelike with online co-op. Despite the game receiving regular patches and updates (including a new playable character in August this year), it’s saddled with low, mixed reviews and very low player numbers that average just 50 people at a time.
“As we wrap up our work on Hyper Light Breaker, we’ve had to make the difficult decision to part ways with a number of talented team members,” Heart Machine said.
“We still have something coming in January. We plan to deliver something meaningful and as polished and complete as we can given our current circumstances. We’re doing our best to refine what we can, complete key systems, and have the game culminate in a satisfying punctuation point.”
Kiss Your Job Goodbye
Heart Machine last laid off a large number of staff in November 2024, when the studio also said that this wouldn’t affect the development of the then-upcoming Hyper Light Breaker, nor its still upcoming Possessor(s).
“Hyper Light Breaker’s upcoming launch will not be impeded by this sad news – in fact, a strong and timely launch will rekindle opportunities for those affected as we look to evolve and grow the game throughout Early Access. Our other projects, including Possessor(s), will also remain unaffected,” said Yiyi Zhang, Heart Machine’s community and PR manager.
Zhang is also the person who posted the news across Heart Machine’s various channels, although the original X post was also preceded by the tone-deaf “We’ve joined the ranks of game studios posting black background white text letters about layoffs.”
It’s unclear whether Zhang is one of the staff being let go, but Heart Machine has been reposting profiles over on LinkedIn for some affected people. The last few days has seen former staff open themselves up to work with explicit references to Hyper Light Breaker, but a week ago quite a few devs also left the company who were working on Possessor(s). This throws that game’s stability into question, despite the company’s recent comment claiming that layoffs have not affected the game and it’s still planned for release in November.
Heart Machine also posted a job vacancy just one month ago, asking for a Unity Engineer to “Help bring our next unannounced 2D pixel art game to life!” but there’s been no further news from the studio on this project.
GameMaker And Crowdfunding
Hyper Light Drifter drew a lot of attention upon its release in 2016 for multiple reasons. One was its actual gameplay, which didn’t rely on text to help give a sense of the world, and another was that it was made in (the now deprecated) GameMaker 1.4.
At the time, GameMaker was in a similar space to where Godot has been in recent years, in terms of being an up-and-coming game engine with the capability to compete with the likes of Unity and Unreal Engine. GameMaker 1.4 has since been replaced by GameMaker 2, which Hyper Light Drifter was ported to by Abylight Studios in 2018.
Hyper Light Drifter was also one of the first well-known video games to seek crowdfunding on Kickstarter, in 2013 (Pillars of Eternity beat it by launching a campaign in 2012). The game ended up being backed by 24,150 people to the tune of $645,158 (with an initial goal of $27,000).
Although the Kickstarter page is still active, its last update by Heart Machine was in 2017. However, there are comments from gamers up to three years ago asking where their Backer rewards are, as well as making reference to a Hyper Light Drifter TV show. This is an animated series by the creators of the recent CastleVania and Devil May Cry shows that was announced in 2019 but has had very little updates since, although it’s still said to be in development.
History With Sweet Baby Inc
Hyper Light Breaker is listed as being published under Arc Games, the rebrand of the San Francisco arm of Gearbox after this company was acquired by Embracer in 2021. However, Heart Machine has relied on a Patreon account for additional funding since December 2024, with studio founder Alx Preston citing “It’s a changing industry, so we are adapting to new realities,” on X.
This is also referenced on the Patreon itself, with its About section highlighting the volatile nature of the industry regarding layoffs and “an increasing divide between large corporations and the people who actually make games.”
News of this pivot didn’t go down well with gamers, who littered Preston’s X account with comments related to Heart Machine’s link to Sweet Baby Inc., the controversial game dev consultancy accused of pushing a so-called “woke agenda” into games.
“The thing that changed was developers like you switching from making games for gamers to activists like you preaching woke at gamers while looking down on us,” reads one typical comment under Preston’s post. “We’re sick of it and don’t need you. Beg for money from the ‘modern audience.’”
However, most gamers seemed to miss the news that Heart Machine announced that it parted ways with Sweet Baby Inc. earlier in 2024.
Heart Machine Needs Players
Hyper Light Breaker has not had a good time since its release at the start of this year. Although Heart Machine has poured time and money into the Early Access title, it peaked at 5,230 players at release, followed by a severe drop-off that’s struggled to rise above 50 players at a consistent rate since.
Heart Machine’s recent announcement suggests that the game will be put into some kind of finished state by January 2026, but it remains to be seen what this entails. There is also the ethical question of still charging for an Early Access game with no further support, which Heart Machine hasn’t answered.
Heart Machine’s last big release was Solar Ash in 2022, a stylish platformer that was met with generally positive reviews, although it divided gamers as many expected something closer to Hyper Light Drifter.
In the meantime, the studio is preparing to release its latest title, Possessor(s), a sidescroller about a possessed high schooler navigating the ruins of her school and city. It’s set to launch on Nov. 11 on PC and PS5. This game is being published by Devolver Digital, the company behind the recent weirdo walking sim Baby Steps.
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