It doesn’t seem like that long ago that if developers released a game and it had bugs or technical troubles, well, that was it – that was the game, forever. But between Cyberpunk 2077, No Man’s Sky, and several other examples, things are different now, and it’s possible to salvage a struggling new release with updates and patches. Hyper Light Breaker has choked on Steam so far, but developer Heart Machine isn’t resting. While the roguelike has middling user reviews, owing largely to complaints about performance, its creator issues a statement addressing the feedback it’s had so far, what it’s doing to remedy the technical woes, and its plans for more repairs in the future.
Hyper Light Breaker landed on Steam on Tuesday January 14. The sequel to 2016’s beloved Hyper Light Drifter, expectations were naturally high, but player response so far has been middling. As it stands, the roguelike bears a partially damning ‘mixed’ rating in Valve’s store – of the 1,700 user reviews posted since the release, just 58% are positive.
Players have reported crashes, bugs, and also frustrations with the game’s core design as opposed to its predecessor. The enemy density in solo mode has been criticized for being too high, players cite framerate dips in co-op matches, and the initial sections of the game are described as prohibitively tough since they don’t provide health items that are vital to survival. In a new statement, Heart Machine says that fans’ participation “is what will make this game the best it can be.”
“We’ve been delighted to see so many players joining us in The Overgrowth this launch week,” the studio says. “Early access launch marks just the beginning of Hyper Light Breaker and we’re excited to shape and evolve the game with you all throughout the course of early access.
“Our community is awesome and has been providing a ton of feedback and support already – this is what we want out of early access development. Your participation is what will make this game the best it can be. The strongest feedback we’ve received this week focuses on performance, particularly on lower-end machines and the Steam Deck.”
Heart Machine says it has already made various improvements to Hyper Light Breaker’s performance. The studio has also added new visual effects toggles, options for adjusting control sensitivity, and improved graphics settings. In terms of the game’s onboarding and tutorial sections, Heart Machine says players can “expect better” in the future.
“As an early access game, the game will be evolving continuously and will evolve thanks to feedback from you all,” the studio says. “With it being an evolving game, that makes it tricky for an indie team, like us, to have robust onboarding experiences for new players – but we clearly underestimated how opaque and complex the game can be.
“Expect better onboarding, tutorials, and in-game reference material in future updates. Your feedback here will help us add the “easy to learn” and “hard to master” elements, and help us determine the best way to change-up the gameplay balance overall.”
Heart Machine says that there will be a “continual stream” of updates for Hyper Light Breaker in the coming year, and that these will take three forms: hotfixes, which “respond quickly to serious issues raised by the community;” minor updates, which will deliver balance changes and smaller new material like enemies and gear; and major drops, which arrive each quarter, introduce new bosses and assassins, and “change up the whole game.”
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