An effective Early Access phase can shape a game’s legacy well beyond its launch, particularly for titles that aim high, such as Hyper Light Breaker. By blending roguelike elements with an expansive open world, Heart Machine, the development team, has shared their strategy for maximizing the benefits of the Early Access experience.
Michael Clark, the lead producer of Hyper Light Breaker, shared insights with Game Rant Advance regarding the studio’s plans for Early Access. Heart Machine has consistently kept an open dialogue with its community, and that commitment will persist. Players can look forward to a significant increase in content, potentially doubling or even tripling, throughout the Early Access phase.
Hyper Light Breaker Breaks in to Early Access
Instead of simply repeating the formula of Hyper Light Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker is venturing into new territory by embracing the open-world 3D roguelike genre. The main gameplay revolves around Cycles and Runs. Each Cycle creates a fresh world for players to explore, and they can embark on Runs until they either conquer or fall to the three available Crowns (boss battles). Defeating these Crowns will eventually lead to the Abyss King, who won’t be accessible at the Early Access launch. On the first day of this phase, players can take on two of the Crowns, explore the world, and dive into its various progression systems.
As this content grows, Heart Machine will be paying attention to the wishes of its community. As Clark mentioned,
“Early Access allows developers to engage their fans in the creation process, and we’re excited to leverage the incredible community we have. Players can look forward to regular updates of different scales—some will be minor, while larger updates will roll out every few months.”
Regular updates are essential for enhancing the experience of Hyper Light Breaker. Additionally, the Heart Machine team has dedicated time to consider and incorporate feedback from fans. Regarding the focus of these updates, Clark mentioned that content will be a priority and will continue to grow during the Early Access phase. When discussing the main priorities for the Early Access launch, Clark shared,
“After our Early Access Launch on January 14th, we have some clear priorities for the game. First up, we aim to significantly expand the content available, targeting a two- to threefold increase in areas like player characters, gear, boss encounters, and narrative elements. Next, we want to enhance the variety and depth of both the world and gameplay, ensuring that each run feels different by introducing new challenges, end-game difficulty levels, and additional unlocks and progression systems. Lastly, we’ve set aside time in our development schedule to gather and implement feedback from our community, as we value your suggestions and ideas for improvement.”
Early Access has significantly benefited several games and is becoming increasingly popular as we head into 2025. For example, GreedFall 2 has adopted a careful and targeted strategy for its Early Access phase, while Nightingale made rapid improvements based on player feedback during its Early Access period. Many developers utilize Early Access to refine their games before the official launch, along with enjoying a variety of other advantages.