Risk of Rain studio stops work on new game as key talent joins Valve

Key developers from Risk of Rain studio Hopoo Games, including co-founders Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse, have left the studio to join Valve.

In an announcement on X, the studio said it was cancelling an unannounced project so that “many” team members could join the Half-Life developer.

“Today, we have an exciting update: Duncan and Paul, alongside many other talented members at Hopoo Games, will now be working on game development directly at Valve Software,” it wrote.

“We’re incredibly grateful to Valve for their partnerships in the last decade, and are excited to continue working on their awesome titles. However, this does mean that we are stopping production on our unannounced game, ‘Snail’.

“It’s been an exciting and transformative 12 years,” the studio continued. “We feel lucky for the opportunities we’ve had, and deeply appreciate both our team and fans that have supported us and our games.

“We love making games – and will continue to do so, for years to come. We’re excited to be working side-by-side with the talented people at Valve. But for now – sleep tight, Hopoo Games.”

Hopoo’s games include Risk of Rain, the remaster Risk of Rain Returns, Risk of Rain 2 and Deadbolt.

Risk of Rain 2 publisher Gearbox acquired the franchise from Hopoo Games for an undisclosed fee in 2022.

Valve is currently developing a third person hero-based shooter called Deadlock, which was officially announced last month.