A difficult end for another indie darling.
Making games can be a brutal business, and another studio may have fallen victim to these difficulties. Heart Machine founder Alx Preston posted on LinkedIn today that the maker of Hyper Light Drifter has cut most of its team:
“We were working on an unannounced title, financed by a publisher. This week, they decided to stop moving forward. Without this key revenue for the studio, without any other immediate prospects or other financing, almost everyone at the studio had to be laid off. It’s devastating.”
Heart Machine developed and released Super light wandererwhich received critical acclaim in 2016. However, the studio began working with external editors as soon as its next effort, Solar ashand he announced plans in 2022 to Hyper Lightbreaker. Work on the sequel to its first game continued at the same time as the team also embarked on the creation of Owner(s)which may have strained the team’s resources. Although Owner(s) was released last year, Heart Machine ended development of Hyper Light Breaker and laid off workers in October 2025. Some of its remaining employees chose to unionize in March 2026.
Preston added in today’s missive that “Navigating an increasingly difficult industry has been extremely difficult, and I am not yet sure what the next step is for Heart Machine to survive.” It’s a sad possible end for a studio that won so many fans ten years ago.
