Hyper Light Breaker
MAKE — HYPER LIGHT BREAKER
Early-cycle engineering support on a 3D open-world roguelike, engaged roughly two years before public reveal.
Partner studio: Puny Human
Concept
A 3D open-world roguelike set in the Hyper Light universe, with three-player online co-op across procedurally generated worlds and systems carried forward from the developer's previous title.
Requirement
The partner was moving from a linear 3D action game into a procedurally generated open world with online co-op — a substantial change in systems architecture — and needed engineering capacity during pre-production and early production, well ahead of announcement. Work had to be done under confidentiality, against a codebase and toolset still being defined.
Approach
Engineers were embedded during the early cycle, contributing to gameplay, platform and systems programming and to game and render performance work as the open-world structure took shape.
The engagement predates the title's public reveal by roughly two years, placing it firmly in the prototype and early-production phase rather than the run to launch.
Delivery scope
- Gameplay programming
- Systems programming
- Platform programming
- Performance optimization
- Early-production engineering support
Results
- Engaged circa 2021, approximately two years before the title's March 2023 public reveal
- Title reached Steam Early Access 14 January 2025
- 12–24 person-months delivered, across 2–4 engineers
- Work sat in the pre-announcement phase, where confidentiality obligations and codebase volatility are highest
Engine: Unreal Engine.
Engaged circa 2021, approximately two years before the title's March 2023 public reveal
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