As players debate whether to purchase Possessor(s) after Heart Machine lays off staff a week before launch, its creators and publisher respond: ‘As a developer who is slated for lay off—please buy this game!’

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.

The combined layoffs have led some players to question whether to continue supporting Heart Machine financially. In a Steam discussion, user Adam posted that it’s “hard to support devs when they can no longer see a cent from a game.”

This was apparently posted in response to the initial round of layoffs, but other users began to debate whether developers who’d had their jobs working on Possessor(s) cut would see a return for their efforts. “I have no intention of giving money to a company that thanked them for that work by kicking them out before the game even launched”, commented user inRemote.

Eventually, these queries prompted responses from representatives at Heart Machine and Possessor(s) publisher Devolver Digital. From Devolver, community strategist Harris Foster said the publisher was “saddened to hear the news of layoffs at Heart Machine” while also clarifying the situation regarding compensation for employees laid off from their roles on Possessor(s).

“Heart Machine has confirmed to us that all revenue-share eligible team members who contributed to Possessor(s) will continue to receive their share,” Foster wrote. He then quoted Heart Machine’s Creative and Design Director Alx Preston, who confirmed that team members scheduled to receive profit share will do so “regardless of if they are no longer here or remain at the studio”.

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.”