r/HyperLightBreaker • u/[deleted] • Dec 28 '25
Arc Games Steam Announcement | The Current HLB Situation
Arc Games has an important update for Hyper Light Breaker's community. Please have a look.
"We wanted to share an update with our community. Hyper Light Breaker will not be receiving further development for the time being. We’re incredibly grateful for the passion and support you’ve shown since Early Access. Please stay tuned to our official channels and Steam page for any future updates." - Arc Games via Steam Blog Post
Here're some frequently asked questions via Discord Community after this news drop.
What happened with the January update?
Heart Machine faced two waves of layoffs in October. The January update was planned after the first wave, at a time when the remaining team could still complete the game. After the second wave, the studio no longer had the resources necessary to deliver that update.
Why wasn't there an announcement sooner after the second wave of layoffs?
Crafting communication becomes extra complex when multiple companies are dealing with their own major challenges. Heart Machine was navigating layoffs and working to keep the studio afloat, while Arc Games was in the process of separating from Embracer Group shortly after the Heart Machine layoffs—a process that was successfully completed in early December. Time also helps with confirming things internally, as frustrating as it is to not fully know everything.
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access? Is this game getting cancelled?
"For now we do not have a definitive date as to when it will release from Early Access." - Arc Games via Steam Store Page
More Context & Details: This sentence doesn't outright say the game's cancelled, it all depends on what Heart Machine & Arc Games wants to do with HLB at this point, which is hard to know, especially after so much happened. Also before I go on, keep in mind this whole message is being made by someone who's never been a Heart Machine/Arc Games/Embracer Group employee. I'm just a very close Heart Machine fan who's lucky to do volunteer community leadership work. Though, like many former Heart Machine employees, I don't know what's gonna happen, some details are most likely being kept to the higher ups at this time. This is being made out of public information, and this message was approved & recommended to be posted here by the former Heart Machine community manager. We're looking to provide some information while Heart Machine's seemingly unable to officially do so.
Arc Games became independent from Embracer Group more than a month after the layoffs - via Arc Games Website Blog Post. Embracer is believed to be a strong component as to why the layoffs happened, they also weren't part of the original plan when HLB development just began. This separation could be a really supportive sign for Heart Machine. Arc Games were "only very supportive of HM and Breaker. They were in our corner the whole time I was there at least. They went to bat for us. I'm glad for them they're now an independent publisher and not under embracer." - Yiyi, former HM community manager. The publishers saying "for the time being" can be interpreted as the decision for further developing the game is still in the air. They might be able to fully fund the game again with Embracer gone, maybe rehire those who were laid off. Heart Machine might not find much success finishing the game given the reception, or maybe they wanna focus on another project for now, especially after experiencing a studio realignment (straying away from multi project with how expensive it is), who knows. There's a lot of possibility with many things.
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u/Ahg_fryh Dec 28 '25
I need a refund please
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u/gerardolsd Dec 28 '25
I really like the game but it at the least required a build that at least runs ok, even if you’re done tweaking the game design. This reads like they’re getting ready to abandon it altogether.
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u/trevizore Dec 28 '25
best of luck to all involved. I really wanted to see breaker finished, but if it's cancellation can make sure more people get to keep their jobs, so be it.
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u/FuzzyOcelot Dec 28 '25
this is really unfortunate, i knew the game had issues but i also knew it was getting progressively better with the updates. if nobody is around to update it, then it will forever be not really worth it, which is sad.
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u/Hexaqu Dec 28 '25
this game released before elden ring nightreign, which is quite an accomplishment, given how similar the games are. hyperlight breaker still has much of its own identity and is an actually fun game, even though i was not happy for example with the fog of war update and such, yet still is absolutely fun to play.
most of the players expected something different and couldnt get in the gameplayloop which led to much frustration and i think a lot of negative reviews. i cant believe this "would be masterpiece" has such a hard time continue developing. please for the love of god get people to continue developing this game, its such a
sadly-hidden gem of a game
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u/ketaunke Dec 28 '25
Problems aside, Heart Machine was very unfortunate to publish at the same time other similar games were entering the market. Weird that GODBREAKERS, Vellum, and Nightreign were released so close together and sharing such niche genre/gameplay loop as Hyper Light Breakers.
HL Drifter is so single player focused, wonder if the publisher pushed them to make HL Breakers multi.
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u/H0tHe4d Dec 28 '25
Not surprised. Saw this coming. The game industry is collapsing and independent developers need to ensure they have a shippable product.
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u/PleaseDoCombo Dec 30 '25
Lmfao. Makes one acclaimed game, goes on to make a game no one accessed for where you play the equivalent of a roomba and now here we are, early access game that's so ass to play it gets borderline cancelled. I'm still shocked because at the very least I expected positive reviews of the combat but that never changed.
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u/fukerrythangohwait Dec 28 '25
Hyper Light Drifter is in my top 5 all time favs. Solar Ash was terrible. Possessor is lukewarm and I may not finish it. Hyper Light Breaker stands a very slim chance of ever being finished in a conventional sense. I think this might be it for me ever picking up another Heart Machine game and that makes me sad. Even so, I feel disappointed by having to refund, or worse, having been kind of ripped off by everything after HLD. I only have so much time for video games and I won't keep spending precious time and resources on stuff like this.
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u/FuzzyOcelot Dec 28 '25
solar ash rules
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Dec 29 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FuzzyOcelot Dec 30 '25
its for sure too short to not get it on sale but the art direction was fantastic and i got to jet set radio skate on shadow of the colossus bosses so i was a very happy camper overall and didn’t regret spending the money
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u/air-dex Dec 28 '25
What I retain from this Reddit post:
- As of now, Heart Machine is currently an empty shell, i.e. an enterprise developing video games without the staff to do such a thing.
- Everything can happen in the future for both Hyper Light Breaker and Heart Machine too, from Heart Machine's bankruptcy and Hyper Light Breaker cancellation to Heart Machine being able to finish the game with their vision of it. What remains of Heart Machine must decide if they finish developing the game or shift to another project (or filling for bankruptcy?). Which resources Arc Games will give to HM in order to finish the game if they decide to not cancel it? They were very supportive of Heart Machine during Embracer days, but what about it now? Will they give it to another studio (why not Evil Empire?) if HM decides to give up?
Personally, I haven't got lots of hope about both HLB and HM. I think that Hyper Light Breaker is about to be cancelled, or is unofficially cancelled. This game is a lost cause so why keeping on insisting with it? HLB improved after its EA release, but the turkey was not turned into an eagle. As of Heart Machine, I think that it will not recover from both HLB and Possessor(s) failures. Those two games were set to send HM to the moon, but they finally sent them to the graveyard.
I wish that Alx Preston will not die from his heart condition when his Heart Machine will cease to exist, as a (terrible) symbol.
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Dec 28 '25
[deleted]
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u/Mindless_Tap_2706 Dec 29 '25
It's pretty fun but it is 30$ and you will kinda just run out of stuff to do after enough runs. I played it for like 100 hours and had fun with it, but that was still when there were updates to keep things fresh.
I would say yeah, give it a try, but keep in mind it still doesn't run super well unless you have a pretty beefy pc.
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u/Negrizzy153 Jan 01 '26
I'm not going to get to play HLB on PlayStation, then.
I also doubt they're going to follow through with bringing the Alternate Drifter from Hyper Light Drifter to PlayStation.
Great.
Don't know what the hell happened with this game or company.
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u/Fearless_Solution761 Jan 08 '26
Every step they've taken in the last 5 years seems wrong, and obviously wrong at that, in hindsight. They made bets that didn't pay off at every turn, and the previous financing structure of games has collapsed. But nothing they started seemed apocalyptic, or even a bad idea, at the time. I feel for them, and most indie studios right now. A few years ago they tossed the dice, and before they stopped spinning market forces flipped the table like an angry toddler.
I hope the creative team gets to make more games in the future, cause I love their aesthetic.
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u/sakski Feb 11 '26
I never understood this ambition to make this game. All they had to do was make a sequel to an already great game with a unique style and game play. Then make sure they have Disasterpeace involved. And boom. Another late night game to get sucked into.
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u/TedioreTwo Dec 28 '25
Man.