Hyper Light Drifter maker Heart Machine lays off nearly everyone

Heart Machine studio head Alx Preston said on LinkedIn that an unannounced game funded by an unnamed publisher was dropped by that publisher this week, and without that income nearly everyone at the studio had to be laid off. Preston did not say the studio would shut down, only that he is not sure what is next for Heart Machine to survive. The studio debuted in 2016 with the Kickstarter-funded Hyper Light Drifter, followed by Solar Ash and the early access Hyper Light Breaker, whose development ended after layoffs in October 2025 without a 1.0 release; its latest game, the Metroidvania Possessor(s), sits at 71 on Metacritic and was preceded by a second round of layoffs in October 2025.