Hades 2 has finally left early access, but that doesn’t mean developer Supergiant Games is already thinking about – let alone actually working on – Hades 3.
Supergiant studio director Amir Rao was asked about the devs’ plans for after Hades 2 in a recent interview with content creator Haelian (below), which took place a few days before the roguelike sequel’s 1.0 launch. Rao explains that a third game isn’t something that the devs have been discussing at all – it’s not some “preordained” thing.
“Basically, our process is really natural and has always been the same around this,” Rao begins. “So, when we’re working on our games, we’re not talking about the next game. The culture is really about focusing on what we have and if we have a really good idea or have a really good thought, it should go into the game we’re making… we should put that energy towards the game that is actually the game that’s coming out.”
This partially comes down to the fact that “the response to the game is an important part of the experience of making it.” He continues: “That’s part of why early access is so amazing for us, right? We get a response, a human, real response to everything we’re making in progress. You know, is the humor working in the game? Is this character working? Are these boons working? Are these weapons working? Is anyone picking this? Is no one picking this?”
Rao notes that this sort of feedback is “really incredible,” and is also what “allowed the original Hades game and Hades 2 to be what it is.” On top of all that, he adds: “An important part of that is how will people respond to the finished game, and how will that response affect us and change us?”
So, as for what happens now, Rao says that “for sure what we’re doing next is just focused on 1.0 and seeing what people are saying about it,” including monitoring for anything that the devs “need to fix,” for example. “Then there will be a break and then we’ll process this and figure out what the future holds for us,” he continues. “But yeah, it’s not preordained. It’s not something we secretly know right now or anything like that.”
The studio director’s comments also line up with a message shared in Hades 2 itself following its 1.0 launch yesterday, in which the devs said that “the conclusion of Early Access also means we expect to wind down on updates to Hades 2 once we ensure our launch is as problem-free as possible. Then, we’ll return to shadows for a while and plan our next move.”
So, the future remains a mystery – but clearly we’re not the only ones uncertain of what it might hold.