'Survival-climber' Cairn is delayed into 2026, but the demo on Steam is getting a cool new feature in October
Cairn made quite a splash when it debuted at the Summer Game Fest in 2024: PC Gamer's Mollie Taylor said that despite her distaste for "verticality," the reveal trailer left her with an immediate urge to grab a carabiner and go climbing. She's going to have to wait a bit to embark on that particular adventure, though, as developer The Game Bakers announced today that instead of arriving on November 5 as planned, Cairn needs a little more time in the oven and will show up in early 2026 instead.
The game is "content complete," The Game Bakers clarified, but developers want to take a few extra weeks "to focus on optimization, debug, and polish."
"Our goal has always been to create games you remember long after playing them, and for Cairn, despite our best efforts, this requires a little more time," the studio wrote.
"We've been running a lot of playtests, and you've let us know that we have something truly special with Cairn. Still, we also see the improvements we can still make to give you the best game we can. After five years of work, so close to our goal, we don't want to rush it."
Delays suck (although not as much as a bad game), but it's probably a good move if The Game Bakers think Cairn could be better—particularly given that it already seems like it might be something genuinely special. The developers of indie climbing hit Peak dig it, and PC Gamer's Jake Tucker said it "might be the best climbing game I've ever played" when he got some hands-on time with it in 2024.
"If summiting the mountain in Cairn's full release feels as good as this brief playtest, then this is going to be an essential game for those who love to climb, and another example of an indie game with a core central mechanic that makes it agonisingly compelling," Jake wrote—and that was a full year ago.
But with the bad news comes some good: The demo for Cairn, which remains available on Steam, will be updated on October 13 so that, "for a limited time," players will be able to see the ghosts of other climbers on their ascent up Mount Tenzen: "You’ll be able to race the best, learn new techniques or discover new routes and hidden areas."
Cairn, to be clear, doesn't have a new release date at this point, but The Game Bakers said it will be out sometime in the first quarter of 2026.
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