Risk of Rain developer Hopoo Games has joined Valve, cancels upcoming project

Hopoo Games, the studio behind indie hits Risk of Rain and Deadbolt, has announced that it is canceling its next project as its team has joined Valve.

The details:

• The developer announced on X that its co-founders, Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse, "alongside many other talented members at Hopoo Games," have decided to join Valve. The team will be involved in game development, but it is unclear whether they will work on an existing title such as Deadlock or on a new project.

• With the move to Valve, Hopoo Games has effectively shut down after 12 years, and the studio has confirmed that its unannounced project, "Snail," is no longer in development.

• This is not the first time Valve has acquired an indie developer in recent years, as the team at Firewatch studio Campo Santo agreed to join the Half-Life developer in 2018. Originally, the team planned to continue working on its Egyptian adventure title, In the Valley of Gods, but it was put on hiatus just a year later.

• As for Risk of Rain, the IP was sold to Gearbox for an undisclosed sum back in 2022. Unfortunately, things aren't going well for the new developer after the recent release of its Seekers of the Storm DLC, which was panned by fans due to an assortment of bugs and underwhelming additions. Despite this, the game's original developers believe it is still "heading in the right direction."

More gaming news:

• Warner Bros. has reportedly laid off staff at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League developer Rocksteady after the game's poor commercial performance.

• PlayStation's hero shooter Concord is estimated to have sold fewer than 25,000 units across PS5 and PC following its weak launch last month.