Rock climbing simulation game ‘Cairn’ pushed back to Q1 2026

In the past few years we’ve seen a couple different takes on the ‘climbing’  genre of video games, with DONTNOD’s Jusant launching back in 2023 to a warm reception, and the simulation rock climber Cairn announced to be arriving this November. Unfortunately, the team at The Game Bakers have now confirmed that Cairn has been delayed to next year – though an updated demo is being released later this month.

Making the announcement via BlueSky, the team at The Game Bakers confirmed that Cairn has been pushed back to Q1 2026, writing: “The team has made the tough decision to delay Cairn to ensure that it launches at its best. 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.”

They continued, “After five years of work, so close to our goal, it makes no sense to rush. With the game content complete, we're going to use the extra few weeks to focus on optimization, debug, and polish.”

For those disappointed by the delay, The Game Bakers are releasing an update to its previously-released demo (coming on the 13th of October) in which “for a limited time, you'll see ghosts of other players climbing alongside you on Mount Tenzen – speedrunners, community members and the dev team.”

Considering how few games we have which are focused almost-wholly on the act of climbing, it is encouraging to see The Game Bakers ensuring that they get it right. In the meantime, you’ll have to patiently wait for the ‘Ghost Demo Update’.

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KitGuru says: Are you excited for Cairn? Did you give the demo a go? Between Jusant and Cairn, which style of climbing do you prefer? Let us know down below.

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