Turkiye-based studio Hero Concept has indefinitely paused development on its upcoming
Beat ’em up game Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds, citing that the project is no longer financially sustainable.
Co-founder and Creative Director Serkan Özay said investment talks fell through in early 2024, publisher discussions did not reach an agreement, and a Kickstarter campaign in early 2025 provided only a temporary runway.
The studio added that it will continue operating through publisher-funded projects. A licensed metroidvania based on the This is Fine meme is already in the works and being published by Numskull Games.
Below is the full message from Serkan Özay that was shared with Kickstarter backers.
Hello everyone,
Unfortunately, I have some bitter news to share on behalf of Hero Concept today.
Short Version
As the project has reached a point where it is no longer financially sustainable, we have decided to pause the development of Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds indefinitely.
Before proceeding, I would like to emphasize one key point: We have not abandoned the project. Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds has been a project into which we poured a great deal of effort throughout its development, investing significant time, energy, and financial resources. As a team, we made major sacrifices…
…however, we have now hit a hard wall of reality.
The Journey and the Challenges
Our problems began in the first quarter of 2024. During this period, two separate institutions that had committed to investing in the project failed to finalize their internal processes, causing the deals to fall through. I don’t want to point fingers at any individual or organization here; ultimately, sector conditions, shifting priorities, and prolonged decision-making processes led to this outcome.
As a second option, we focused more heavily on publisher discussions. Here as well, we encountered an extremely cautious approach due to the current state of the industry. While the discussions progressed to a certain point, expectations, demands, and terms ultimately failed to align.
As a third option, we launched a Kickstarter campaign in the first quarter of 2025. Although the interest fell below our expectations, it provided the necessary runway for the project to continue for a meaningful period while we evaluated other alternatives. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported us during this process.
Finally, we decided that staying afloat would require taking on contract-based projects whose financing would be fully covered by publishers. We had received offers of this nature before; in this case, This is Fine: Maximum Cope emerged as a project we genuinely wanted to pursue.
As a result, throughout 2025, without fully stopping work on Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds, we began primarily developing a licensed metroidvania game based on the famous internet meme This is Fine, published by Numskull Games. Both the nature of the meme and the game’s focus on social anxiety felt like a cosmic joke, perfectly mirroring the situation we found ourselves in.
Behind all of this, the global game industry has been going through a prolonged and difficult period. Industry-wide contraction, consecutive layoffs, and increasingly cautious investment behavior have affected many studios, including us, directly. What we experienced was not independent of this broader picture.
What Happens Now?
This entire process has left us with a smaller team and a version of Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds that is no longer financially sustainable. At this point, we do not see viable conditions for resuming development before 2027. While surprises are always possible, I do not want to dilute realism with wishful thinking.
As Hero Concept, we will continue to move forward by developing a mix of licensed and original projects whose financing is covered by publishers. We are currently in negotiations for multiple such projects.
Kickstarter Backers
The support we received during the Kickstarter campaign allowed Mayhem Brawler II: Best of Both Worlds to continue for a significant period, and we have never taken that support lightly. We are fully aware that this decision may be disappointing for our supporters, and we take responsibility for that. I know this news is not easy to accept, but I sincerely hope for your understanding.
To that end, we will do our best to compensate for this delay by offering certain perks and benefits to our backers in our future projects. Further details will be shared once they are finalized.
With respect,
Serkan Özay
