Just nine months after its open-world roguelike Hyper Light Breaker hit early access, Heart Machine has hit the rocks. Per Game Developer, the studio is laying off an indeterminate number of staff and ending development on its most recent game, which encountered a rough reception when it launched into early access in January, with players lamenting performance issues, control problems, bugs, and the fact that the game might just be a smidge too hard.
"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", wrote the studio in a statement. "This was not our ideal path, but rather the only one available given the circumstances".
Heart Machine doesn't go into detail about just what circumstances it's referring to, but it's not hard to deduce at least some of them. Unlike its previous games—Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash—which both enjoy popularity and acclaim, Hyper Light Breaker currently sits at a 64% Mixed user-review rating on Steam, and I suspect it will stay there or get worse with development coming to an end.
Reception is not the same thing as sales, but it hardly feels like a leap to think that Hyper Light Breaker, with its poor word of mouth, is not doing well enough financially to justify continuing to support it.
There are other reasons, however, though Heart Machine only gestures at them. "While this path will include a conclusion on the project, it reflects broader forces beyond our control, including shifts in funding, corporate consolidation and the uncertain environment many small studios like us are navigating today," writes the studio. It pledges, nonetheless, to continue developing games with a "smaller core team" and to support impacted staff.
I have two immediate questions: whether Hyper Light Breaker is due a final update and full release before development winds up, and if this means anything for Possessors, Heart Machine's upcoming game due for release next month. I've reached out to the studio to ask about this and for a precise number of laid-off staff, and I'll update this piece if I hear back.
It's a sad end for a game I rather liked when I played all the way back at Summer Game Fest 2024, but it couldn't quite ignite the same passion in general players, even with sweeping overhauls. The game got a major update as recently as two months ago, but from our current vantage point, it looks like a last-minute Hail Mary that didn't quite stick.
