2025 was, on paper, going to be a great year for developer Heart Machine.
Following the success of their 2016 breakout indie hit Hyper Light Drifter, the studio had two releases planned for this year. First was Hyper Light Breaker, the anticipated follow-up for Hyper Light Drifter. The second is Possessor(s), a stylish action side scroller that impressed me when I went hands-on with it earlier this year.
Unfortunately, 2025 has not gone to plan for Heart Machine. Hyper Light Breaker was disappointing, and the studio ended development on the title just months after it ended Early Access.
Shortly after that announcement came the news that Heart Machine was undergoing layoffs. While the spotlight was all on how it would affect the future of Hyper Light Breaker, there were still questions about how it would affect the upcoming release of Possessor(s), due out later this month.
The game's still planned to see a full release, but as a Steam Discussion would indicate, some fans aren't too excited about buying the game. "Hard to support devs when they can no longer see a cent from a game," said the original poster. However, one former dev is still asking people...
