Hyper Light Breaker: Trailer, gameplay changes, platforms & more

Nathan Warby
Hyper Light Breaker The Drifter

Heart Machine have announced Hyper Light Breaker, the long-awaited sequel to the 2015 critical darling, Hyper Light Drifter. Here’s everything fans can expect from the follow-up.

When Hyper Light Drifter was released way back in 2016, after smashing its original Kickstarter goal, players and critics alike were bowled over by its gorgeous pixel art style and old-school action RPG gameplay.

Six years later, developers Heart Machine have announced a sequel named Hyper Light Breaker, published by Gearbox this time around. What can fans expect from the hotly-anticipated follow-up? We’ve broken it all down right here.


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Hyper Light Breaker trailer

Seemingly out of nowhere, on March 31, 2022, Heart Machine and Gearbox dropped the Hyper Light Breaker trailer, giving fans of the original their first peek at the new game. Check it out below:

Is there a Hyper Light Breaker release date

Unfortunately, the first trailer didn’t give a concrete release date, but it did confirm that players will be able to get their hands on Hyper Light Breaker sometime in Spring 2023.

The sequel will initially be an early access title but don’t be surprised to see a full release follow later on in the year.

Hyper Light Breaker platforms

The Drifter looking at city
Hyper Light Breaker lets players loose in a new setting called “The Overgrowth.”

As it stands, due to its status as an early access game, Hyper Light Breaker has only been confirmed for a Steam release. No details have been released as of yet about if or when players on other platforms will be able to get their hands on it.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. When Hyper Light Drifter was released, it came solely to PC in the beginning but a console version launched a few months later.

We expect the sequel to follow suit, possibly when it leaves early access, so PlayStation and Xbox users hopefully won’t have to wait too long before trying it for themselves.

Hyper Light Breaker gameplay details

The Difter using hoverboard
The Drifter has a number of options for getting around the map.

Despite being a direct sequel that will continue the story of The Drifter, Hyper Light Breaker also marks a huge departure from its predecessor. While the original dropped players into a 2D sci-fi world, the new game is embracing a 3D perspective more akin to Heart Machine’s last game – Solar Ash.

Traversing the larger areas of “The Overgrowth” will be sped up by the hoverboard and glider at players’ disposal, allowing The Drifter to glide around the world with ease.

It also appears that Breaker will move the series away from its action-RPG roots in favor of rouge-lite elements. But don’t worry, the flashy hack-and-slash combat is going nowhere.

A greater emphasis is being placed on co-op with the next installment, which was only added to the first game in a post-launch update. This time around, players will be able to tackle the challenge with friends from day one.

For more details, take a look at the description from the official Hyper Light Breaker Steam page: “Play alone or with friends to explore massive biomes, defeat brutal monsters, create new builds, survive the mysterious Crowns, and overthrow the almighty Abyss King in this action rogue-lite adventure from the creators of Hyper Light Drifter.”


There you have it! That was everything we know about Hyper Light Breaker. We’ll update this page with all of the latest information as and when it’s announced, so be sure to check back here regularly.

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