Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter was a knockout for the studio when it launched and followed up with Hyper Light Breaker and Possessors last year.
Now the studio is at risk of closure after effectively laying off the remaining staff.
In a LinkedIn post by Heart Machine’s founder, Alx Preston reveals that the studio’s unannounced title had funding pulled from its publisher and with no money coming in, the staff had to be laid off.
“We had been working on an unannounced title, funded by a publisher. This week, they decided to no longer move forward with it. Without this key income for the studio, any other immediate prospects or other funds, nearly everyone at the studio had to be laid off. It’s devastating,” Preston said.
Everyone will be provided with as much support as possible, including assisting with placement. If you know of any roles for extraordinarily talented, kind people, please reach out and we will coordinate.
Thank you so so much to all of the incredible people who contributed their efforts and talents to making amazing things at the studio. Thank you to our amazing community and fans.
Navigating an increasingly challenging industry has been extremely difficult, and I’m not sure yet what’s next for Heart Machine to survive. However, we’ll keep pushing to build a path while we are still here.”
Hyper Light Drifter was a game everybody talked about a decade ago. It’s something my circles would gush over in chat. It’s since been a game I’ve revisited at least three times across console and PC.
The studio’s second game, Solar Ash eventually came out after a delay but failed to hit the same highs as its predecessor. It was a fun game though but it never offered the same appeal as Hyper Light Drifter.
In 2024, I sat down to play Hyper Light Breaker which was eventually delayed due to player reception. It then launched to dismal reviews, including ours which was disappointing.
Earlier today, it was revealed that Build a Rocket Boy also was at closing and that’s not even including Double Fine losing staff due to the Xbox restructuring.
