News: Western Nightmare Metroidvania RPG Blighted Delayed to 2027
Drinkbox Studios has announced that its upcoming Metroidvania action-RPG Blighted will now arrive in 2027 rather than in 2026. The Toronto-based independent developer, known for the Guacamelee! series, Severed, and Nobody Saves the World, shared the change in its most recent developer log on September 21, 2026. The game had previously been slated for a launch sometime this year, with studio materials also referring to a Fall 2026 window. According to Drinkbox’s Josh Davis, the team has been working hard and growing, but still needs more time to polish and tune Blighted so it can launch in its best form. Davis thanked players for their patience and said more news will come in the new year, while also promising one more developer update before 2026 ends. That winter update, along with later 2027 communication, is being positioned as something fans and curious players should watch for. The same devlog also teased new looks at the game’s level design, including the Watcher's Peak hub and additional environments, offering a clearer sense of how exploration and world structure will work once the game is out.
Blighted is a Metroidvania action-RPG in which players fight through a psychedelic western nightmare to reclaim the memories of their people, either solo or with a friend. On Steam and in Drinkbox’s own description, the game is framed as a 3D action RPG from the creators of Guacamelee!, built around intense combat, exploration, and a reality-altering force called Blight. Combat is described as nuanced and deadly: players must carefully time attacks, weave through enemies, chain combos, and land powerful finishers. Harnessing Blight functions as a dynamic difficulty system that changes enemies, the player, and the surrounding world as play continues. Defeating enemies and consuming the memories of bosses expands the player’s skillset, opens new paths, and makes the protagonist more powerful even as they become more Blighted. Exploration is meant to reward close attention, with hidden routes and deep secrets gated behind both observation and the evolving Blight state. Local and online co-op is fully supported as an optional way to play through the entire campaign, and the game features an original score by Jim Guthrie, the composer behind Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Below, and Nobody Saves the World.
The story setup explains why that Blight exists and why the player is hunting memories in the first place. In the past, the dead were buried with seeds planted in their brains. Those seeds grew into trees that surrounded the player’s village, and the fruit of those trees contained the memories of the dead, passing knowledge and traditions from generation to generation. That cycle ended when a figure named Sorcisto defiled the ritual. By eating brains raw, he gained vast power and knowledge, consumed the player’s entire village, destroyed its memory forest, and infected the world with a deadly Blight. The player is the lone survivor of that rampage, fighting to reclaim the memories of their people before their own Blight overtakes them. Drinkbox presents this as both a source of power and a rising challenge, meant to scale with player skill while locking away some of the world’s deepest secrets. The studio, founded in 2008, is developing and publishing the game itself. Ontario Creates is noted as a provincial agency supporting Ontario’s creative industries. Until the 2027 launch, Drinkbox is asking players to stay patient, watch for the remaining 2026 dev update, and look to later news for a clearer picture of when Blighted will finally ship.