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The Risk Of Rain intellectual property and both Risk Of Rain and Risk Of Rain 2 are now owned by Gearbox. Gearbox were previously the publisher of Risk Of Rain 2 and say they are “eager to prove ourselves as worthy custodians” of the series. They bought the IP from original developers Hopoo Games, who say they won’t be doing any more work on the series.
The acquisition was announced as part of Embracer Group’s interim report. Embracer Group are the owner of Gearbox Publishing. A public announcement was then released via the Risk Of Rain Twitter account:
Risk of Rain joins the Gearbox family. pic.twitter.com/EjlOUVi0Hq
— Risk of Rain 2 (@RiskofRain) November 17, 2022
“After years of passionate publishing work on Risk Of Rain 2, we have developed a deep love and respect for the IP,” says the statement. “We are eager to prove ourselves as worthy custodians by continuing to bring you world-class content and ensuring a bright future for this genre-leading franchise.” They also say they’re working on “a very special passion project” with original developers Hopoo, which is a “true love letter to the community.”
Hopoo Games’ Twitter account, meanwhile, quote tweeted the news, calling it “excellent news for any Risk of Rain fans.” Which, by the way, is terrible corporate comms and the repsonses are awash with confused Risk of Rain fans unsure of what any of this means and unconvinced Gearbox are good stewards for the future of the series. I imagine what Hopoo mean is, ‘we weren’t going to make anymore of this anyway, but now these other guys will.’
The first Risk Of Rain was a 2D roguelite which caught the initial wave during that genre’s ascendance. Risk Of Rain 2 stepped into 3D, but was similarly a class-based roguelite with a lot of rapid, powerful unlocks – and a lot of slow, grindy character unlocks. Hopoo Games also made the ulta-violent side-scroller Deadbolt.