Indie company Heart Machine has recently terminated the development for their game Hyper Light Breaker. In addition to cancelling the game’s development, the studio has also laid off several of their employees.
Hyper Light Breaker was the second installation in the Hyper Light series, with the game functioning as a prequel to Heart Machine’s popular 2016 title Hyper Light Drifter. Hyper Light Breaker differs quite bit from its predecessor, trading the aesthetics and gameplay of a pixelated action-adventure RPG for an open world 3D rogue-like. The early-release version of Hyper Light Breaker was released 9 years after its predecessor, with fans purchasing and playing the game in January 2025.
Currently, Hyper Light Breaker sits at an overall “Mixed” rating on Steam. Many of those who left positive reviews praised the game’s visuals and movement. Those who left negative reviews often critiqued the game’s poor combination of a death-punishing rogue-like and soulsbourne-esque boss fights which require multiple deaths to master. Critical reviews of Hyper Light Breaker have become more common as of late, with recent reviews for the game sitting at a “Mostly Negative” rating on Steam.
Unfortunately for both fans and critics of the rogue-like, developer Heart Machine has officially cancelled the game’s development. In a post on their social media, and first reported by Game Developer, Heart Machine confirmed that the studio is “[wrapping] up…work on Hyper Light Breaker.” Despite the game’s cancellation, the team is still planning “to deliver something meaningful and as polished and complete as we can given our circumstances” by refining the game overall and finishing gameplay systems. The game will not receive any updates and Heart Machine will not be hosting any Q&A sessions until 2026.
Hyper Light Breaker’s cancellation coincides with Heart Machine laying off several of their employees. The decision to lay off their employees was described as “not our ideal path, but rather the only one available given the circumstances.” Heart Machine goes on to say that the studio remains operational and will continue to create games with a “smaller core team” while “doing everything to support…departing staff.” The message goes on to say that the studio is “deeply grateful for all those who contributed to all of our projects.” There is no confirmed number on how many employees were impacted by these layoffs.
Heart Machine’s upcoming game Possessor(s) remains unaffected by Hyper Light Breaker’s cancellation and the company’s layoffs, with Heart Machine stating that the game is still set to be released on November 11th.