Don’t expect Ori 3 anytime soon, as devs say they’ll be working on No Rest for the Wicked for up to a decade

If you’re holding out hope for another Ori and the Blind Forest sequel after Will of the Wisps, bad news: it’s probably going to be a while. Developers Moon Studios have said they’re all-in on Soulslike action-RPG No Rest for the Wicked, suggesting that their “magnum opus” will be their focus for up to a decade.

That’s the belief of studio CEO Thomas Mahler, anyway, who took to X to declare that the game’s current early access release was “just the beginning for us” and promise that the team’s plans extend far beyond its 1.0 release.

Mahler, typically not one for a hyperbolic statement, compared the Dark Souls-Diablo hybrid to being the studio’s Lord of the Rings, with the early access release to date being a “test screening”, while “1.0 will be our 'Fellowship of the Ring’”.

“And as you all know, there's lots to come after that,” Mahler said, which I’d personally like to interpret as confirming that Grond will show up at some point and there’ll finally be a lore explanation as to why fantasy orcs understand the concept of a menu (maybe in 2.3).

Anyway, that work will take anywhere from five to ten years, according to Mahler, who called the game Moon Studios’ “magnum opus” and insisted that they intend to “contribute in a huge way to the ARPG genre”.

Great news for those loving No Rest for the Wicked so far, then. Less good news for those patiently awaiting a third Ori game for the four-plus years since Ori and the Will of the Wisps came out, as Mahler directly replied to the question of whether a sequel was in the works by shooting down the chances.

“I hope now you folks understand why we won't be making Ori 3 any time soon!” he wrote.

For now, Moon Studios have been working on improving No Rest for the Wicked’s performance after a rocky start, as well as tweaking some of its other mechanics like durability.