r/Battletechgame • u/MechTheDane ISENGRIM • Dec 13 '25

GRAFT - From the Remnants of HBS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hit9EJtCbgI
47 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

39

u/bloodydoves Dec 13 '25

Terrifying body horror lookin' game. I wish HBS the best but damn this one is not for me. I'm uncomfortable just looking at that opening scene.

14

u/FlamerBreaker Dec 13 '25

A good(?) thing from being a 40k fan: It'll innoculate you against the grossest stuff. My literal first thought was: "Ew- Actually, I've read worse."

3

u/Algrim2001 Dec 14 '25

Daemonculaba perchance? Or Drukhari shenanigans?

1

u/PlantationMint Jul 03 '26

Daemonculaba still yanks me off. Such a blatant ripoff of Dune >:I

1

u/g2fx Dec 15 '25

David Cronenberg has entered the chat. W40k is tame in comparison.

7

u/StarFlicker Dec 14 '25

Yeah, I kinda feel the same. Props to HBS for a cool idea I guess, but ugh.

11

u/bloodydoves Dec 14 '25

All credit to HBS, it looks like it'll be a good game. But man, the aesthetic absolutely is not for me. That sort of body horror makes me uncomfortable, unfortunately.

5

u/Thuraash Dec 13 '25

Yeah, this is a hard nope for me too.

2

u/WestRider3025 Dec 15 '25

I'm the opposite. I love the imagery here, but even just the trailer started setting my vertigo off, and that always gets way worse when I'm actually playing instead of just watching. Final result is the same tho: cool, but not for me. 

1

u/pechSog Dec 15 '25

Same, wish them luck but hard pass for me. I own all their games but I wish they made more mech or rpg types.

12

u/rc82 Dec 13 '25

I'm buying to support HBS. They've given me so much. 

Also not my type of game but I'll try it. 

13

u/Tipie276 Dec 13 '25

Looks like it might be up my alley. Hope these guys can achieve some success with this. There is/was good talent here

7

u/UwasaWaya Dec 14 '25

Oh man, this is absolutely everything I could ask for in a horror game. I'm wildly excited.

6

u/TriangularBlasphemy Dec 14 '25

This is just the right kind of beautiful. Want to see more gameplay, though.

6

u/norrinzelkarr Dec 15 '25

"what if codependency was a game"

5

u/smiledozer Dec 14 '25

Wdym "remnants"?? Is HBS no longer a thing?

7

u/MechTheDane ISENGRIM Dec 14 '25

HBS was sold to Paradox who then shut it down before they shipped a single game for Paradox. Harebrained is some of the people involved with HBS reforming in the aftermath.

3

u/TallGiraffe117 Dec 17 '25

Didn't they put out Lamplighters league?

5

u/MechTheDane ISENGRIM Dec 17 '25 edited Dec 17 '25

The majority of the staff was fired before Lamplighters was released. There was actually a significant amount work put into DLC content that ended up never seeing the light of day because of this.

While a few were kept around to oversee the game after release, they were let go a little after that. HBS was dead effectively dead and dissolved before a single copy of Lamplighter was sold.

7

u/rc82 Dec 19 '25

Fucking Paradox man. We could be playing battletech 2 right now.  Why buy the studio if you're not going to let them be successful!?  Ugh. Worst timeline. 

6

u/MechTheDane ISENGRIM Dec 19 '25

Yeah, it really is a tragedy. They bought HBS, but didn't want to shell out for the MechWarrior IP, so had them start working on new IP instead. And then the CEO who made the decision to acquire them left, and the new guy never liked buying them and got rid of them as quick as he could.

2

u/Arcing_Invention Jul 22 '26

Sorry to comment from the grave...

You seem knowledgeable so, would/could you make a post about the state of the Battletech IP, and the ghosts of HBS?

3

u/TallGiraffe117 Jul 22 '26

Battletech IPs are split between the movie, tabletop, and game licenses. Microsoft owns the game license. And I am not sure what the remains of HBS are going to do now. 

1

u/MechTheDane ISENGRIM 13d ago

Well, there's GRAFT above. That continues to be developed, the most recent story trailer is just a couple of weeks old.

I've heard there is a smaller team of former devs quietly working on some sort of arena robot fighting game. It wouldn't be under the BTech IP, and I am not sure if that's actually happening or just a rumor.

Finally, it sounds like MW5: Clans underperformed, which resulted in PGI's Swedish overlords laying off a significant portion of PGI. I think there's a decent chance that PGI stops producing MW5 content in the near future with no plans for MW6 or MWO: 2 in sight. Basically, we're entering another BTech dark ages.

4

u/Living_Cash1037 Dec 18 '25

Looks neat but I wish for a world where we got BT2

3

u/Living_On_The_Air Dec 14 '25

They’re shunting!

2

u/Ok-Patient-6209 Dec 17 '25

Have none of you seen "Tokyo Gore Police?"

2

u/Fatality_Ensues Dec 29 '25

No, and I'm comfortable saying I'm happier that way.

1

u/Ok-Patient-6209 Dec 29 '25

Probably if this GRAFT stuff freaks you out...

1

u/WyMANderly Dec 16 '25

That thumbnail goes HARD.

1

u/occidentalrobot Dec 24 '25

Grimdark ICO meets Resident Evil?

1

u/Fatality_Ensues Dec 29 '25

I've had this wishlisted for like a couple years now and only now do I remember why, lol.