In what may come as a surprising bit of news, Gearbox has announced on Twitter that it now owns the Risk of Rain IP. This means that Gearbox will take the reins of development on Risk of Rain 2 content as well as any future projects related to the franchise.
According to Gearbox’s statement, the company holds “a deep love and respect for the IP” and feels “eager to prove” itself by providing worthy content for the series. Currently, Gearbox is working on porting the Survivors of the Void DLC of Risk of Rain 2 to modern consoles. Hopoo Games, the original developer of Risk of Rain, retweeted the statement and expressed that this will come as great news for fans. When responding to another user, Hopoo Games clarified that the studio will remain independent.
What do fans make of this?
Fans initially expressed concern over this news, wondering if this means that Hopoo Games will no longer work on Risk of Rain 2. Indeed, on the official Risk of Rain 2 Discord server, community manager Jonathan Cheetham, also known as SeventeenUncles, confirmed that Hopoo Games will not participate in the development of new Risk of Rain 2 content or any other installments in the series moving forward. Although this will inevitably disappoint some fans, Cheetham reassured that the people who work at Gearbox genuinely love the Risk of Rain games and understand their core appeal.
Image via Risk of Rain 2 Discord/Hopoo Games
Image via Risk of Rain 2 Discord/Hopoo Games
Additionally, he stated that if Gearbox did not acquire Risk of Rain, then Hopoo Games would have likely “sat on the IP” without making any more content for it. With this in mind, Cheetham feels that fans should consider this news a positive development.
Image via Risk of Rain 2 Discord/Hopoo Games
Notably, Gearbox’s statement also mentioned that it currently has “a very special passion project” in development with Hopoo Games that will serve as “a true love letter to the community.” Given what Cheetham has already stated about Hopoo’s future involvement with Risk of Rain, it seems that this project will not directly involve the IP even though Gearbox said it would appeal to the Risk of Rain community specifically. Alternatively, this project may not be a game per se, but still pay tribute to the series in some way. There’s also some speculation that it could be a remake to the original game.
