We want to start talking openly about development, about the process, doing live streams and all sorts of fun stuff like that. The plan to announce Breaker roughly a year before its intended launch on Steam Early Access is a big part of this desire for transparency, and marks a natural progression from Drifter’s early success on Kickstarter. It's important for us to make sure that we're releasing content on a more regular basis, and we aren't locked into a very focused mentality without being super public about it for multiple years on end.” I mean, that is definitely part of it, now that we've made that transition into Unreal and built up the technology.

We asked Preston if having already made this transition might result in a smoother development cycle for its new 3D game. The online aspect represents a second major technological leap for Heart Machine since its debut Solar Ash saw it make the transition from 2D to 3D, resulting in a game that was well-received, but took nearly twice as long to make as Drifter. “And when we say online cooperative play, we mean multiple players, not just you and another person we're looking at a group of players that can go out and kill some monsters together.” Speaking to IGN, creative director Alx Preston also noted that it will be “a little more systems-heavy, with more RPG mechanics” compared to Drifter, complete with a range of distinct playable classes. The announcement trailer (below) seems to indicate that Breaker will combine Drifter’s exacting combat with the elegant traversal mechanics seen in Heart Machine’s second game, Solar Ash.

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