Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Nine Dots Studio, Outward 2

Outward 2 Has Officially Been Delayed Until 2027

After hyping the game's Early Access this year, the team behind Outward 2 confirmed the game has been delayed until 2027.

Published Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:12:09 -0500

by Gavin Sheehan

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Article Summary

Outward 2 has officially been delayed, with Nine Dots Studio moving its planned Early Access release from summer 2026 to 2027.
Nine Dots says the Outward 2 delay will give the team more development time to improve quality, stability, and player trust.
The studio’s CEO said recent playtest feedback made clear Outward 2 needed more work before fans should be asked to pay.
No new release date was announced, but Nine Dots says it wants Outward 2 to make a major leap forward before launch.

After hyping the game's Early Access this year, Nine Dots Studio has confirmed that Outward 2 will be delayed until next year. The company sent out a letter from the CEO on social media and to journalists this morning, explaining the move but offering no solid dates. The shorthand is that they're going to work on the game a little more to make sure it meets expectations, which we're fine with, as we'd rather have a great game than one that needs constant work. We have the full letter below as we now kick back and wait for more details.

Outward 2 Announces Next Playtest Happening in March 2026 — Credit: Nine Dots Studio

Outward 2 Will Not Arrive Until Sometime In 2027

Hi everyone,

I know that this might seem sudden, as not that long ago we released a trailer inviting people to explore Aurai this summer, but the truth is that if we just stubbornly stick to the plan, we're delivering a product that might not satisfy your expectations. The last thing we want to do is disappoint fans of Outward and there have been a lot of comments stating that they wish for the game to spend more time in development before the launch. The point of a playtest is to listen to feedback, and so we will.

Dropping this news is especially painful, knowing that some of our most dedicated players actually planned their summer break around the release date. It sucks for you, and I personally apologize to everyone affected this way. However, it would be even worse if you ended up playing something over your vacation that you were not even happy with.

It's hard to gauge what the appropriate degree of stability is for Early Access. The best we can do is take a hard, honest look at the game, and at our team, and ask: in a few weeks, will this be good enough to charge money for? Our aim is to have such a stark jump between this playtest and the Early Access launch that we earn the trust of our players. You were there for the first Outward and that's why we were successful. We want you to be happy to be there again for Outward 2.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our beta and playtests, who provided feedback, who shared our news, talked with us directly during streams or on Discord. I apologize that we couldn't give you the game you guys deserve on time. I guess that's game development's equivalent of a defeat scenario: a setback and we come back better prepared.

Guillaume AKA Gheeyom
CEO and Creative Director

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