Hades 2 developers explain why Supergiant Games decided to create Hades sequel

Supergiant Games has revealed that making Hades 2 was not simply a business decision, with the studio prioritising its creative interest in returning to the world of Hades.

In a new Noclip documentary about the sequel’s development, studio director Amir Rao explained that Supergiant typically evaluates its previous game before deciding what project to pursue next.

Rao said the studio initially believed it was unlikely to make a sequel to Hades.

“With each new project, Supergiant takes a step back to ‘think about how we feel about the last game,’” Rao said.

“What kind of lessons did we take from it and how did we feel about the original game? We did our process where we considered lots of projects and I actually, at the beginning of that process, thought we almost certainly would not make a sequel to Hades.”

Art director Jen Zee said the team remained interested in exploring the world and Greek mythology featured in the original game. The scale of the mythology also provided opportunities for a follow-up.

“We still have enthusiasm for this world that we've been exploring,” Zee said. “The Greek pantheon is so vast. It just felt like, ‘Oh, there's this beautiful orchard and there's so much fruit left on the trees. Like, we should maybe consider harvesting.’”

Zee also said Supergiant generally approaches sequels cautiously because the studio prefers creating new worlds. However, the unfamiliarity of developing a direct sequel became part of its appeal.

“We approach sequels with a fair amount of skepticism because we do love exploring new worlds and we've never done it before,” Zee said. “I would say that was actually one of the appeals of making a sequel, as well – because we'd never done it before.”

Rao acknowledged that Hades’ success was considered during development but said the studio needed to be creatively motivated before moving forward.

“If making the sequel is the right financial decision, we have made the dumb decision many times in a row,” Rao said.

He added that success also brings expectations, making creative enthusiasm an important consideration for the studio.