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Hopoo Games co-founders Duncan Drummond and Paul Morse joined Valve on September 3, 2024, alongside many other Hopoo team members. The move stopped production on Hopoo’s unreleased project, Snail, and left the Seattle studio in a dormant state. It was not announced as a Valve acquisition of Hopoo Games or the Risk of Rain franchise.
What Hopoo Games announced
In an announcement published on September 3, 2024, Hopoo said that Drummond and Morse, together with “many other talented members” of the team, would work directly at Valve. The studio also said it was stopping production on Snail, an unannounced project, as the team made the transition.
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Hopoo described the studio as going to sleep. That wording supports describing Hopoo as dormant or inactive, rather than claiming that the company was legally dissolved. The announcement did not provide a headcount, say that every employee joined Valve, or identify the Valve project on which the group would work. Hopoo’s official announcement also did not describe the move as an acquisition.
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Drummond and Morse founded Hopoo Games in 2012 while they were University of Washington students, according to Hopoo’s website and reporting from GeekWire.
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The studio became best known for the Risk of Rain series. Its major releases include:
- Risk of Rain (2013)
- DEADBOLT (2016)
- Risk of Rain 2 (2020)
- Risk of Rain 2: Survivors of the Void (2022)
- Risk of Rain Returns (2023)
What happened to Snail?
Snail was an unreleased Hopoo project whose production stopped when the team moved to Valve. Hopoo did not publicly establish its genre, platforms, release plans, or gameplay details. There is also no supported evidence that Valve transferred the project into development.
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The most accurate description is that Snail was shelved or left in halted production. Calling it permanently canceled would go beyond what Hopoo announced.
Did Valve acquire Risk of Rain?
No. The available evidence points to a staff transition, not Valve buying Hopoo Games or the Risk of Rain rights.
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Hopoo’s website says continued development of Risk of Rain 2 is handled by Gearbox. GeekWire reported that Hopoo sold the rights to Risk of Rain 2 to Gearbox in November 2022, before the Valve move. Gearbox subsequently worked on the game and its expansions, including Seekers of the Storm.
That means the 2024 change should be understood as three separate developments:
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- Hopoo’s founders and many team members moved to Valve.
- Hopoo stopped active development on Snail and entered a dormant period.
- Risk of Rain 2 remained associated with Gearbox’s development and stewardship—not Valve’s.
Is Duncan Drummond working on Deadlock?
Later reporting connected Drummond directly to Valve’s Deadlock. In September 2024, PC Gamer reported that Drummond had identified himself in the official Deadlock Discord as working on the game.
That confirms an individual connection between one Hopoo co-founder and Deadlock. It does not prove that Morse, every former Hopoo employee, or the entire group joined that project. Valve has not publicly disclosed a complete staffing breakdown for the former Hopoo developers.
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Valve’s official Steam community page continues to describe Deadlock as a multiplayer game in early development and lists official updates in 2026. That establishes the game’s continuing development, but not a release date, final business model, or full developer roster.
What is Hopoo Games’ current status?
Hopoo’s official website currently says, “We are not currently developing any new games.” That is the clearest available statement about the studio’s development status.
It remains unknown how many Hopoo employees accepted Valve positions, whether any team members stayed independent, what happened to Hopoo’s corporate entity, and whether Snail could ever return. No announcement supports claims that Valve acquired Hopoo or that a new Risk of Rain game is being developed by Valve.
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The headline is true, but it describes a hiring and studio-dormancy story rather than an acquisition. Hopoo’s founders and many colleagues moved to Valve on September 3, 2024; Snail stopped production; and Hopoo ceased actively developing new games. Meanwhile, Risk of Rain 2 remained tied to Gearbox, and only Drummond’s involvement with Deadlock has been specifically reported.
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