Overview
- Heart Machine disclosed on Wednesday that a publisher pulled funding for an unannounced title, and the studio laid off nearly everyone as a result.
- Founder Alx Preston said the funding loss removed the studio’s primary income stream and made it impossible to sustain payroll.
- The company pledged to provide support and placement help for affected employees and asked industry contacts and fans to forward job leads.
- Heart Machine had already been strained after Hyper Light Breaker underperformed in early access and earlier 2025 layoffs depleted its reserves.
- The situation highlights how relying on single publisher advances and early-access revenue can leave small indie studios vulnerable and may prompt renewed scrutiny of funding models in the games industry.