Heart Machine collapses, Black Ops drama, and a PS2 mystery finally cracked

Heart Machine, the studio behind Hyper Light Drifter, has laid off nearly everyone on its team after a publishing deal for an unannounced game fell through. The collapse is a sharp blow to an outfit that had built genuine goodwill with players, and it underscores how precarious the mid-sized studio model remains when a single deal goes sideways.

The Call of Duty ecosystem continues to generate friction. Activision's studio behind Black Ops 7 is reportedly moving on from that entry to develop something new — a tacit acknowledgment of its poor reception — while data suggests Black Ops 2, more than a decade old, is pulling larger audiences on PlayStation 5 than both Black Ops 7 and Warzone combined. Sony also had to respond after several PC titles including Helldivers 2 briefly vanished from the UK storefront. Separately, Marathon's creative director moved to publicly dismiss rumors of a merge with Destiny 2, urging players not to trust everything circulating online.

A modder has finally defeated the PlayStation 2 security chip after four years of effort, reportedly cracking one of the last remaining secrets of Sony's console. On the RPG front, the Lies of P publisher is reviving a 32-year-old JRPG classic that previously saw its only English release on PSP, bringing it to modern consoles and PC. Lollipop Chainsaw Back2Back, a brand-new entry starring Juliet, is headed to PlayStation 5 in 2027, and Sumedha Machine developer Media Molecule is reportedly working on an Animal Crossing-style game targeting the same year.