Valve Hires Risk of Rain Creators, Reigniting Half-Life 3 Rumors

Hopoo Games, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Risk of Rain series, has entered a new chapter as several key members, including co-founders Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse, take on roles at Valve.

Hopoo Games Joins Valve's Game Development EffortsStudio on Indefinite Hiatus, Project Snail Put on Hold

Risk of Rain original developers Hopoo Games has announced that several developers on their team, including co-founders Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse will commence game development elsewhere. As announced through a thread on Twitter (X), Hopoo Games personnel are joining Valve, the company best known for bringing Counter-Strike and Half-Life to the world. This move has led to a temporary pause in Hopoo Games’ ongoing projects, including the announced game "Snail."

While Hopoo Games is joining Valve's game development efforts, it's currently unclear whether this is a permanent move or otherwise. Though, basing it on Drummond's and Morse's LinkedIn profiles, the studio seems to still be well and alive with the co-founders' roles at Hopoo Games still intact. "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'," the studio shared. The announcement ended with the message, "sleep tight, Hopoo Games," as development on project Snail has stopped.

Founded in 2012 by Drummond and Morse, Hopoo Games made its mark with the debut of Risk of Rain, an action-packed roguelike that tasks players to escape a hostile alien planet. The game was followed by the sequel Risk of Rain 2 in 2019. In 2022, Hopoo Games sold the Risk of Rain IP to Gearbox, which has since continued developing the series, including the recently released Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm DLC. Despite some criticism and flak the DLC received, Drummond expressed confidence in Gearbox's direction with the series, stating on Twitter (X) that "Gearbox is heading in the right direction."

Valve's Deadlock in Early Access While Rumors of Half-Life 3 Spark Up

While neither Valve nor Hopoo has disclosed specific details about what the team will be working on, Valve's current high-profile project, the MOBA hero shooter "Deadlock," continues on in its early access phase. Additionally, persistent rumors about the potential development of Half-Life 3 suggest that Hopoo Games could be lending its hands on development for the rumored title.

Rumors on Half-Life 3 revving up production were fueled by a recent update to a voice actor's portfolio mentioning a mysterious "Project White Sands" linked to Valve. Though the project was quickly removed from the portfolio, it reignited fan theories about the long-awaited sequel to the Half-Life series.

As spotted by news site Eurogamer, fans of the franchise have since theorized that "white sand" may be connected to Half-Life 3, with some pointing out that "White Sands is a park in New Mexico... " correlating to Black Mesa, a fan-made remake of Half-Life. The game features Black Mesa Research Facility, an in-game facility located in New Mexico that forms the setting for Half-Life and the titular game.