DrinkBox hits the brakes: Blighted, its action RPG, slips to 2027

Time to rearrange the calendar. DrinkBox Studios, the studio behind Guacamelee and Nobody Saves the World, has confirmed that Blighted, its new action RPG, will no longer arrive when originally planned. The estimated release date has moved to 2027, as reported by Eurogamer España, the outlet that provided the core information for this article.

Why does it matter? Because DrinkBox isn't just any studio on the indie scene. Its games are known for precise combat, humor and a visual identity you can spot a mile away. When a team like that decides to give itself more time, the question isn't just when we'll get to play it. It's also what they're trying to polish and whether the wait will be worth it.

What you need to know

• Blighted is DrinkBox Studios' next project and is billed as an action RPG.
• Its estimated release has been pushed back to 2027.
• The studio is behind Guacamelee and Nobody Saves the World, two titles much loved by the community.
• The available information doesn't give a specific release day or publicly explain the reasons for the change.

Who's behind it and why people are excited

If you've played Guacamelee, you know what we're talking about: demanding platforming, combos that reward skill and a world full of personality. It's one of those games that speedrunners and challenge lovers have squeezed dry for years, because its design holds up remarkably well to repetition and optimization. Nobody Saves the World took that experience into territory closer to the action RPG, with progression and a wide variety of playstyles.

That's why Blighted has people curious. Everything suggests the studio is still exploring that crossover between action that feels great and RPG systems. It's a genre where balance is everything: unresponsive combat or poorly tuned progression can sink the experience, no matter how good the art direction is.

What changes and who it affects

In the short term, the change mainly affects those who were expecting the game in its previous window, as well as content creators who plan series, streams or guides around specific launches. If you had Blighted on your streaming roadmap, it's time to move it and find something else to fill that slot.

There's an important caveat: the source refers to an estimated date. We still don't have a day circled on the calendar, so it's best to treat 2027 as a horizon rather than a firm promise. The reasons for the delay haven't been publicly detailed either. Any reading on whether it's down to ambition, team changes or market conditions is, for now, pure speculation.

Our take

Here in the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we're clear on this: we'd take a delay announced well in advance over a rushed launch that ships broken any day. Recent years have given us far too many releases with day-one patches, unbalanced combat and promises to fix it later. In an action RPG, where the feel in your hands is everything, a few extra months of polish can make the difference between a decent game and one the competitive community keeps playing for years.

That said, there's room for criticism too. The longer a wait drags on without concrete information, the more interest cools off, and that hurts indie studios most of all, since they don't have the marketing muscle of the big publishers. We'd like DrinkBox to pair this delay with more transparency: what they're adjusting, how development is going and, if possible, some kind of playable demo. For competitive players and creators, seeing the game in motion helps far more than reading a year in a press release.

Even so, the studio's track record works in its favor. DrinkBox has earned a level of trust that few teams have. If Blighted manages to carry the precision of Guacamelee over to an action RPG with real depth, we'll have plenty of material for challenges, races and content. For now, patience and a watchful eye.

What do you think?

Delays always split the community: some celebrate them as a sign of quality, while others see them as a red flag. You already know DrinkBox's work. Would you rather wait until 2027 for a well-polished game, or do you think these delays end up killing the hype? Drop by the team chat or our Discord and let us know.