Hypnospace Outlaw developer Jay Tholen has confirmed the highly anticipated sequel, Dreamsettler, has been cancelled following a “mutual” decision between Tholen and publisher No More Robots.
“This is not a joke, and I’m sorry everyone,” Tholen wrote in the description of a YouTube video entitled: “Dreamsettler is canceled”.
“I didn’t want to make a video like this, but I’ll cut to the chase – Dreamsettler has been cancelled,” he said in the ten-minute video. “It means it’s not coming out, it won’t be finished. This was a mutual decision between the publisher and I. They didn’t pull support or anything, and they tried what they could to keep it going, but it’s just time to stop it.”
Dreamsettler is canceled.Watch on YouTube
Before going into details, however, Tholen thanks everyone who had signed up to his recently launched Patreon, saying going to the crowdfunding platform was “kind of a last-ditch effort.” Refunds will be available for the most recent month’s payment.
Tholen also said that while he wasn’t currently sure “what form it’ll take”, he does intend to release more of what would have been in the game, which could possibly include a playable build. He also issued a passionate plea for studios to get in touch and offer work to the two developers who have been let go due to the cancellation.
“The very short version is: we got a budget this time, we tried to plan the game from the top down more or less, where we knew all the beats that would happen, and what expensive things we could afford to film or have made for the game, and how much money we could afford to pay a programmer for X amount of time. Because of that money […] you have to go by this schedule, and I’ve never successfully made a game based on a design document.”
He then talked about some of his favourite features of Dreamsettler, such as Oomph, a fake music sequencer, but the team “way over-scoped, things were so complicated and so fancy”.
“I’m so sorry to everyone who’s waiting for this game and expecting a big, great game,” Tholen added. “This is, like, almost five years of my life. I mean, I did make [spin-off game] Slayer X, so that was a fun diversion, but this was the big one. I had so many hopes.”
For those wondering, yes, The Chowder Man was going to return. “He recorded more music for this game than Hypnospace,” Thorlen said, “and I want to do right by the musicians too, so maybe we’ll figure out how to release their music and promote it.
“We just needed to stop this. Because of money and practical concerns, I just had to stop it. Hopefully, we can release some of it, or maybe I can write blogs – or some of the team can – and show you what we were doing because there’s a lot of cool stuff there. A lot of worthwhile stuff.”
Thorlen said he still plans to work on Slayer’s next update, with hopes to get it out early next year.
“Maybe I’ve been burnt out this whole time. I don’t know. I was able to do Slayer X, though I would like to do kids’ stuff. Stuff for children. I don’t know if it would be a video series, or an app for kids, or something. And it’s not because I think this is a great market to get into, but it’s because there are things I’ve searched for and they don’t exist, and I want to make them, just for my own kids.
“I’m sorry, everyone. This just stinks. Again, I want to emphasise the publisher did a great job, Mike and Mark did an excellent job. I think I’m a hard person to work with. On a normal team, where there wasn’t some guy who needed to work a weird way, they would have finished this game, and it would have been great, but I just couldn’t get it going, you know? And it’s too late. Hopefully you all stick around, and don’t hate my guts, and hopefully we’ll talk soon.”
We discovered Hypnospace Outlaw would be getting a sequel back in 2022. Another game, Slayer X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer – a spin-off made by the fictitious Hypnospace Outlaw character, Zane – released in June 2023.
We gave Hypnospace Outlaw a hearty Recommended when it released in 2019, writing: “A witty and smitten recreation of a time gone by, which you’ll forgive tedium if you share in the nostalgia.”