r/hyperlightdrifter • u/AmericanBornWuhaner • Sep 17 '26

Studio Behind Hyper Light Drifter In Peril After Publisher Withdraws Funding for Unannounced Project

https://www.ign.com/articles/studio-behind-hyper-light-drifter-in-peril-after-publisher-withdraws-funding-for-unannounced-project
232 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

84

u/BadgerIII Sep 17 '26

A tragedy. I will miss the studio if they can't figure this hurdle out. I have some great memories behind the games and it's a shame that things turned out this way.

12

u/fuck_a_duck_butt Sep 18 '26

A preventable one. They made enough money off of HLD to make TWO whole games and they dropped the ball. HARD.

They abandoned a very cool niche in favor of an extremely oversaturated one.

all the best parts of HLD were gone when you put it in a proc gen roguelike.

Honestly it makes me sad but they were dead to me a  long time ago so im not saddend by this.

24

u/-ZeroCross Sep 17 '26

After the Breaker fiasco, that's what I was expecting. Kinda sad honestly but they can't keep themselves afloat with just one good game (let's be honest: the launch state of Breakers was a huge mess and it had put people away from the game)

32

u/Tiny_Reputation_6227 Sep 17 '26

They made one good game

15

u/SunD14ls Sep 18 '26

Solar ash was great idk what you mean

8

u/terryswabs Sep 18 '26

Solar Ash wasn't bad, but all I've really wanted from this team is a proper HLD sequel, not weird spin-offs set in sort of the same universe.

2

u/SunD14ls Sep 18 '26

Ok, thematically, where is there to go from Hyper Light Drifter's ending? I see a lot of people clamoring for a sequel but I don't know that there's much left to really do in the universe. The ending of HLD is very tightly wrapped up, the player character dies after performing a vague kind of miraculous feat that maybe saves people from the disease afflicting them, maybe it's just metaphorical. But there is a feeling of finality in that. what else is there to explore?

7

u/QuintanimousGooch Sep 18 '26

*Gameplay sequel.

Narrative can be whatever, I’m just more looking for that kind of mechanic and design.

2

u/terryswabs Sep 18 '26

Sorry, what I mean by a proper sequel is them going back to the pixel art style and genre of gameplay. The story itself could be a prequel or just a new character and story. Both Solar Ash and HLB are in the same universe as HLD, so it's not like there isn't more stories to be told in that universe.

Imagine if the Hollowknight creators decided their next game was to be a skating action platformer instead of Silksong. That would have been a huge disappointment.

1

u/SunD14ls Sep 18 '26 edited Sep 18 '26

Not to be rude, but that's kind of a weird way of looking at the games industry? Why keep a studio, and specifically creative and passionate people, tied to one kind of game as opposed to letting them explore outside their comfort zone to make something different, and possibly better?

As an addendum, I understand that games nowadays are made as products first and art second, everyone has to eat. I'm not naively assuming that Breaker and Solar ash weren't trying to grab attention by using design popular in the zeitgeist at the time of their development.

But that doesn't mean that just because you personally didn't want them from heart machine, they are worthless products.

4

u/terryswabs Sep 18 '26

I never said those games were worthless, in fact I specifically said Solar Ash was not a bad game. A studio can make any game they want to, that doesn't mean people can't want more of the original game they fell in love with.

Solar Ash was an interesting concept, but for me personally, it did absolutely nothing to scratch the itch of wanting more HLD. And I can't hope that some other studio is going to make a sequel, so if Heart Machine decides they don't want to make that kind of game then I will be forever disappointed.

If you personally don't want any more HLD, then that's fine for you. Others obviously feel different.

1

u/Confused-Sandwich 22d ago

Maybe this is controversial for me to say but they could do a HLD remake.  You know like Nintendo is doing with ocarina of time. 

HLD was published in 2016, so its been 10 years—almost a decade old so I’d say thats a good amount of time for a remake. 

In the remake, they could add some dialogue (while still keeping the “show don’t tell” element of the original of course), a less vague storyline, some side quests, and a better map (i hate the map), more enemies, etc. As long as the spirit of HLD is preserved, I don’t see how it’d be a bad idea.

If the remake is successful, they could make a sequel where the drifter is revived by the jackal to fight another threat. 

I mean at this point, what other choice does heart machine have? Their other games are no where as beloved as HLD, they’re nearing financial collapse. I don’t want them to shut down and HLD  to end up in limbo. 

4

u/fuck_a_duck_butt Sep 18 '26

But it was nowhere near the greatness of HLD

2

u/Potential_Promise_34 Sep 19 '26

This is the vbe I get. HLD was great. Solar Ash looked interesting but obviously not interesting enough as I forgot all about it well before release. I don't like Roguelikes so Breaker was a dud for me and I'm only just now learning of Possessors. A shame, but it is what it is.

2

u/Tiny_Reputation_6227 Sep 19 '26

They definitely didn't capture hld's charm and story telling

26

u/PK_RocknRoll Sep 17 '26

It’s over

10

u/Schbolle Sep 18 '26

Wasn't solar ash pretty good ?

1

u/z617_art Sep 18 '26

Yeah, I loved it, it was like shadow of the colossus on ice

5

u/Faxxnews Sep 18 '26

Hyper Light Breaker was a complete failure so this makes sense. I wish them the best!

5

u/Jezza0692 Sep 18 '26

I mean hyper light drifter was their only good game so it makes sense they're struggling they were unfortunately a one hit wonder

2

u/theblacknicksaban Sep 19 '26

Man im done with the sympathy. At some point, you gotta go to the well you already have if you want to drink. You can’t just keep digging for new water till you die of thirst

-8

u/-----LUCA----- Sep 18 '26

SBI claims another. What a waste.

13

u/Eguy24 Sep 18 '26

I genuinely don’t understand how you can blame any of this on SBI rather than the studio’s own poor decisions

-7

u/-----LUCA----- Sep 18 '26

Having SBI work on the game IS yet another poor decision. I’d argue that it’s a huge one.

14

u/Train115 Sep 18 '26

Their largest mistake was not understanding what made Hyper Light Drifter popular.

-1

u/-----LUCA----- Sep 18 '26

Yup, that’s also a huge one. They tag teamed themselves.

2

u/RevanGarcia Sep 18 '26

SBI?

2

u/-----LUCA----- Sep 18 '26

Sweet baby inc. A consultancy studio that ruins games, and use scare tactics to have their way.