Heart Machine, the studio behind Hyper Light Drifter and Hyper Light Breaker, has announced a second set of lay-offs for October. While the developer is yet to make any official announcement about this, a report by GameDeveloper indicates that four workers have been impacted by this latest round of lay-offs, which seemingly took place earlier this week.
Among the employees that have been affected by these lay-offs include Myriame Lachapelle, who was serving as producer on Possessor(s), 3D animator Jordan Campbell, VFX artist Ivan Phu, and senior gameplay manager Justin Beales. All three confirmed that they were affected by the lay-offs through posts on social media platform Bluesky.
While Lachapelle will continue to work with the studio until the development of Possessor(s) is done, Phu, Campbell and Beales were seemingly let go on a more immediate basis.
“My heart is heavy & I might have more to say on that later, but I’ve got news today that my time at Heart Machine will come to an end after Possessor(s) ships,” wrote Lachapelle in a post. “I’m honestly too busy… literally shipping the game to start actively looking for work, but I’ll be looking for my next gig in December.”
“My time at Heart Machine has sadly come to a rather abrupt end,” wrote Campbell. “I was there for almost 6 years, & had been working on Breaker since summer 2020. It was a pleasure working with them! Now, a new chapter begins.”
“I just wanted to post, I’m laid off,” wrote Beales. “Just shouting into the void of the internet! It was a beautiful and wonderful team of people to work with at [Heart Machine].”
“Unfortunately my time with the lovely teams of Hyper Light Breaker and Possessor(s) is coming to an end tomorrow,” wrote Phu. “It was a great time working with such passionate and talented individuals on this team and I’m wishing everybody a whole lot of luck and perseverance with job hunting in these hard times”
Heart Machine had announced lay-offs earlier this month, noting that the decision was made due to “broader forces beyond our control.” In its statement, a spokesperson for the studio noted that, after the lay-offs, the studio would still maintain a “smaller core team” while still making sure that those affected would be supported.
The studio had announced its next game, Possessor(s), all the way back in June 2024. The title is being developed for PC and is set for release later this year. However, with this latest round of lay-offs, the current state of the game is currently unknown. Possessor(s) has been described by Heart Machine as a side-scroller that takes place in a mega-city that has been hit by an “interdimensional catastrophe”. The story revolves around two characters – Luca and Rehm – who will both cope with the events of the game in their own distinct ways.
In the meantime, check out our review of Hyper Light Breaker, which came out as an Early Access game earlier this year on PC.
https://bsky.app/profile/mllepilgrim.bsky.social/post/3m4c2kazjfk2n
My time at Heart Machine has sadly come to a rather abrupt end. I was there for almost 6 years, & had been working on Breaker since summer 2020. It was a pleasure working with them!Now, a new chapter begins.
I just wanted to post, I’m laid off. Just shouting into the void of the internet! It was a beautiful and wonderful team of people to work with at HM.
Unfortunately my time with the lovely teams of Hyper Light Breaker and Possessor(s) is coming to an end tomorrow. It was a great time working with such passionate and talented individuals on this team and i’m wishing everybody a whole lot of luck and perseverance with job hunting in these hard times
— Kuro on Blue~ (@kurothemoop.bsky.social) 2025-10-30T22:36:49.257Z
