Speculation about the announcement of a new Ori game being imminent grows, as reliable industry inside Nate the Hate recently teased on discussion forums.
Nate the Hate kicked things off by teasing in a reply on X that there “a neat Xbox announcement that should be at Gamescom.” More information gradually emerged on ResetEra forums, eventually suggesting that a new entry in the Ori series developed by a third-party studio was in the works.
Windows Central’s Jez Corden backed up these rumors on his Patreon. He said that Xbox is planning to make exciting announcements at Gamescom this year, and that “there might be a pretty big surprise (probably very unexpected sequel) reveal.” He told fans it wouldn’t be a sequel to the Banjo games to prevent them from getting their hopes up, but this piece of information was already plenty to fuel their speculations. In a discussion about Jez’s comments, Nate mentioned that he had heard about this possible sequel from multiple contacts.
Before Nate said the series’ name, he mentioned that what intrigued him the most was the developers that were being handed this IP. Eventually, Nate the Hate spilled the beans on ResetEra: “A new Ori is what I was referring to. I do not have confirmation whether it will or won’t be at Gamescom, yet.”
Elsewhere on ResetEra, user Kiri_Kis557 mentioned that he’d heard of an Ori game being developed “by one of Saber Interactive’s divisions,” potentially revealing the studio behind the project. Keep in mind that this is unconfirmed, so even the new Ori game is real, it could potentially come from a different.
If you’re unfamiliar, Moon Studios’ Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps were Xbox-published Metroidvanias with beautiful visuals still unmatched by most games. In an interview with Game Informer, Moon Studios said that it felt like the story of Ori was complete for now, and it had no more story to tell, and it’s currently working on No Rest for the Wicked. That seemingly hasn’t stopped Xbox from making a new Ori game with a different studio.
All eyes are on Gamescom Opening Night Live for this announcement right now, although even the leakers who revealed this new Ori game aren’t enitrely sure it’ll be there. Xbox will probably have to reveal it soon, though, as Nate the Hate suggested that a 2026 release could be on the cards.