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Blighted

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch 2, PC
Genre: RPG/Action
Developer: DrinkBox Studios
Release Date: 2027

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'Blighted' Reveals Game & World Structure Details, Delayed Until 2027

by Rainier on Sept. 21, 2026 @ 2:52 p.m. PDT

Blighted is a Metroidvania Action/RPG set in a psychedelic western nightmare.

Battle your way through a psychedelic western nightmare to reclaim the memories of your people in Blighted, a 3D action RPG from the creators of Guacamelee! and Nobody Saves the World. Harness the power of the deadly, reality-altering Blight and unravel the mysteries of a twisted world.

In the past, the dead were buried with seeds planted in their brains. These seeds would grow into trees bearing fruit imbued with memories.  Knowledge was passed down through the fruit of memory trees for generations. 

This continued until the one called Sorcisto defiled the ritual. By eating brains raw, Sorcisto gained vast power and knowledge. He consumed the player’s entire village, destroyed its forest of memory trees, and infected the world with a deadly Blight.

You are the lone survivor of Sorcisto’s rampage, fighting to reclaim the memories of your people, before your own Blight overtakes you.

Learn to harness your Blight, which serves as a source of both power and danger, challenging players of all skill levels and gating some of the world’s deepest secrets.

Before we get into the fun part of this devlog, we’d like to first address the fact that it is nearing the end of 2026 and Blighted still doesn’t have an official release date. The team has been working hard (and growing!) but we feel we still need a bit more time to polish and tune the game before launch. With this in mind, we’ve decided to shift our release to 2027. We appreciate your patience, and while we will have more news in the new year, we have one more really cool dev update before 2026 wraps that we think you'll want to keep an eye out for.. 

In the meantime, let’s talk about navigating the world of Blighted!

It might look terribly distorted and disconnected, but that’s just the Blight tearing reality apart a little bit.

Getting anything done around here means carefully exploring your surroundings, meeting new people and avoiding skydiving buzzards.

Here to talk more about the structure of Blighted’s world is Drinkbox designer Chris Brady!

The Levels

In Blighted, you’ll navigate a series of large, interconnected levels as you hunt down the fearsome Memory Bandits. Each level is lovingly (and sometimes deviously) handcrafted to offer a range of challenges and secrets. As you work your way through each area, you’ll obtain permanent upgrades to strengthen your character and ultimately face off against your main targets in exciting boss fights.

While you navigate the unique challenges of each level, you’ll have a number of chances to catch your breath as you reach new checkpoints in the form of Memory Trees and open up shortcuts leading back to them. At Memory Trees you can take a rest, upgrade your character, or customize your current equipment. You can also fast travel back to Watcher’s Peak.

Watcher’s Peak

Now you might be wondering what this peak is and what the deal is with all the watching. Well, Watcher’s Peak is your home camp in Blighted. Here, you can bring upgrade items to the last living Memory Tree. Do so, and you’ll find yourself able to take more hits and dish out more attacks without breaking a sweat.

Out in the wilds you might even make some friends. Invite them back to Watcher’s Peak and they’ll support you in upgrading your tools of the trade (the trade being action packed combat). Strike up conversations with them and they’ll teach you more about the world, helping you in your journey.

The World

In proper metroidvania fashion, the world will occasionally taunt you with blocked paths such as uncrossable gaps or strange fleshy doors. Along your journey you’ll discover new ways to tackle these and can return to them to open up new paths in the world and obtain special rewards.

To give an example, in a previous devlog Ian shared a little about enemy Power Attacks and how you can parry them to create devastating openings. Now, you won’t begin your journey with abilities like Power Parry, but once you obtain them you’ll find that they can be applied not just to enemies, but to clearing the way forward.

As your character grows in abilities, so will you in your understanding of navigating the world. New paths will be revealed to you and you can even put these discoveries towards plotting wildly different routes through the game on future playthroughs. Even on your first time through, you’ll have many opportunities to choose which level you’d like to try next, or even to switch levels if you need a break from your current one.

The world of Blighted is vast and varied, and we’re looking forward to seeing all the different ways you’ll tackle it!

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So much to do, so much to see… Rest assured, once you know your way around, you’ll be zipping around the map like Nobody’s business. ;)

That’s all for this devlog, but it won’t be too long till our next one! 

Thank you for your continued support. We really can’t wait for you to play Blighted next year.

Until then,

Josh

Key Features:

  • Intense combat: combat in Blighted is nuanced and deadly. Carefully time your attacks to weave through enemies, chain together combos, and perform powerful finishers.
  • Harness your Blight: the player’s Blight serves as a dynamic difficulty system that constantly changes the enemies, the player, and the world around them
  • Consume memories: absorb the brains of defeated bosses to gain their memories and become more powerful (and Blighted), widening your skillset and opening up new paths.
  • Unlock mysteries: pay careful attention while exploring to unlock the many deep secrets of Blighted’s world.
  • Surreal characters & environments: explore vibrant, psychedelic landscapes and meet bizarre creatures on your journey.
  • Co-op multiplayer: play through the adventure with a friend via drop-in/drop-out co-op multiplayer.
  • Haunting original score: Blighted features new music by Jim Guthrie, the acclaimed composer of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Below, and Nobody Saves the World.

Blighted is coming to PC (Steam) in 2027.


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