Heart Machine – the studio behind games like Hyper Light Drifter and Hyper Light Breaker – has gone through a fresh round of layoffs, this time affecting “nearly everyone at the studio”. The announcement was made by studio founder Alx Preston in a LinkedIn post, where he said that the layoffs came following Heart Machine having to cancel one of its in-development, unannounced projects.
“I have very difficult news today. 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.
“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.”
Preston went on to thank the fans and other people in the industry who have provided their support for the studio, and even said that he was unsure about what the next steps will be to ensure Heart Machine’s survival.
“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.”
Heart Machine has gone through plenty of trouble, and even back in 2025, the studio had gone through a pair of layoffs. At the time, many of the people who were let go included developers on Heart Machine’s most recent release – 2025’s Possessor(s). The title has been described by the studio as a side-scroller that uses a mega-city that has been hit by an “interdimensional catastrophe” as its main setting. The main narrative of the game revolves around two characters, Luca and Rehm, who have to figure out how they can deal with the situation in their own ways.
Since then, the team has seemingly been working with an unnamed publisher on an unannounced project.
Heart Machine’s other major 2025 release, Hyper Light Breaker, still remains in Early Access, and at the time of publishing, has garnered a “Very Negative” rating from user reviews, many noting that the studio has essentially abandoned the title and that it should not be bought. Heart Machine had confirmed that development on Hyper Light Breaker was ending back in October 2025, blaming “broader forces beyond our control” for the decision.
For more details on Hyper Light Breaker, check out our review from back when it first came out, where we gave it a score of 5 out of 10 due to its awkward controls, performance issues, and imbalanced enemy composition and boss encounters.
This is in sharp contrast to 2016’s Hyper Light Drifter, which still has a “Very Positive” rating even a decade after its release thanks to a variety of solid gameplay elements, responsive controls, and a lush, colorful world.
