It’s a messy time over at Heart Machine, developer of the beloved Hyper Light Drifter and its ill-fated hack ‘n’ slash successor Hyper Light Breaker. The latter debuted to mixed Steam reviews and muted sales when it carved its way into early access back in January, resulting in layoffs at Heart Machine and work on Hyper Light Breaker ceasing prematurely.
But it seems this wasn’t enough to right Heart Machine’s ailing vessel, as the studio began a second round of layoffs late last week. This time the cuts were focussed on the team creating the side-scrolling action/adventure Possessor(s), occurring less than a fortnight before the game is due to launch.
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Later in the thread, Possessor(s) narrative director Tyler Hutchinson chimed in. Initially, this was to dismiss a suggestion that Heart Machine had hired consulting firms like Sweet Baby Inc to work on the project (which would be nothing out of the ordinary even if they had).
“Please do not attribute the hard work of everyone on this team to other people,” Hutchinson wrote. “We did not use any consulting companies to make this story. All of the writing in this game comes from me, our other writer and team members who wanted to collaborate.”
Following this, Hutchinson urged fans to purchase Possessor(s) despite the layoffs—which include him. “As a developer who is slated for lay off—PLEASE BUY THIS GAME,” he wrote. Hutchinson then laid out his case for why players should pick up Possessor(s), starting with the effort he and his teammates had put into the project.
“I view video games as modern day Cathedrals; it’s the culmination of hundreds/thousands of hours of work,” he wrote. “We make games because we want people to play them and have fun. IF no one does this…I really just wasted 3 damn years of my life.” Hutchinson also pointed out that Devolver had been a “great publisher” to work with and were “not in any way responsible” for Heart Machine’s woes. “I think they have gone above and beyond to support this project and the dev team.”
Finally, Hutchinson noted that if Possessor(s) sells well, that will help support developers even if they are no longer at Heart Machine, and not just due to the profit share. “Potential employers/publishers/nepo-babies with too much money will be like: ‘Oh you worked on Possessors? That game made a bajillion dollars. Please have a stable job with my company,'” he observed.
Possessor(s) launches on November 11. While we haven’t had a chance to test it prior to launch, Ted Litchfield attended a hands-off demo back in April and came away optimistic. “The thing that got me most excited in the hands-off demo was the look of Possessor(s)’ environments,” he wrote back in April. “Search-metroid-action-vanias can often have this really abstract feel to their side scrolling levels, while Possessor(s)’ starting destroyed office building actually felt like a real place I was getting a dollhouse view of.”
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