Supergiant Games director says Hades 3 isn't a sure thing despite the success of Hades 2

Potential plans for Hades 3 came up in an interview just before Hades II left early access for its v1.0 launch, Supergiant Games’ Studio Director Amir Rao tempering expectations in what could be a small disappointment for fans looking for confirmation on what is next for the series. 

Speaking with roguelike content creator Haelian in a 36-minute interview, Rao stated plainly, “It’s not preordained. It’s not something we secretly know right now or anything like that.

Supergiant has a focused approach to game development, as the studio aims to take on one project at a time without overlapping projects. He further explained, “When we’re working on our games, we’re not talking about the next game.” 

Rao went on to state that “the game is the design document,” suggesting that Supergiant works on real-time building, testing, and pondering on community feedback instead of charting rigid long-term roadmaps. And this approach has been working pretty well in Supergiant Games' favor.

The proof lies in the success of Hades and its sequel, which was first announced at the Game Awards 2022, almost two years after the original Hades left early access in September 2020.

While Hades 3 isn’t in active development, given Rao’s comments, Hades II has currently proven itself a resounding hit among fans, as the game reached an all-time peak of 103,567 concurrent players when it first entered early access and has rebounded to a peak of almost 100,000 players after its 1.0 debut on Steam.

Sales data proves that Hades II has been a resounding success, at least based on numbers. According to Alinea Analytics, Hades II shipped 2 million copies during its 16-month early access run, including 1.5 million sales within the first two months alone. To put things into perspective, Hades II has generated a staggering $54.5 million in gross revenue at its $29.99 price point.

The original Hades also sold more than 150,000 copies in the week leading up to Hades II’s early access exit.

Looking ahead, it’s obvious Supergiant Games will continue pushing out post-launch support for Hades II with tweaks and bug fixes, much like its previous installment. However, expansions or DLCs seem unlikely, given Supergiant Games’ history. It will be a long time before fans get to see a Hades 3 announcement as the studio unwinds from a lengthy development period.

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