It’s not often I allow myself to get excited about a game, but when I do, it gets delayed into 2026. Now Cairn joins that unfortunate roster of postponed titles that includes the Fable reboot, KuloNiku: Bowl Up!, and Crimson Desert. Per a BlueSky announcement by The Game Bakers, the QWOP-adjacent climbing sim has moved launch windows from the very precise November 5 to the later, vaguer Q1 2026.
As explained in the post, the main reason for the delay is that the team needs extra time to ‘focus on optimization, debug, and polish’. Having played the demo extensively on Steam Deck, Cairn could definitely benefit from a few weeks of tweaking and rejiggering.
It’s not all sad faces and spoiled beans, though. To make amends, the developers will be updating Cairn’s excellent demo with a limited feature that lets you climb alongside the ghosts of other players. It’s small reparation, but I’ll take it, if only to learn a few tricks of the rock climbing trade.
