Highly Anticipated Indie Games That Are Still MIA

Hundreds of games are released on Steam each and every week, but that doesn’t exactly paint an accurate picture of the realities of game development. Especially in the indie development scene, where small teams come together and use limited budgets to try and craft unique experiences, bringing an artistic vision to life takes time. Occasionally, developers and/or publishers will pull the curtain back just a bit too early, shining light on a title that still needs much more time in the oven before it’s ready for player consumption. The following titles are some of the more highly anticipated indie games that have been on players’ radars for at least a year or more, but despite having playable demos that showcase what feels like a mostly finished project, still lack a concrete release date communicating when players might expect the full game.

• Developer — Wondernaut Studio
• Publisher — Critical Reflex
• Genre — City-Builder, Deckbuilder
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — November 2023
• Projected Release Date — “Coming Soon”

There are literally hundreds of deckbuilders on Steam, and a surprising number of them are actually fantastic. But one upcoming deckbuilder that’s a good bit different from what you’d normally find in the genre is Iron Hive (stylized as IRONHIVE), which is a deckbuilding city management game with an art style and atmosphere that’s equal parts early post-Industrial Revolution and H.P. Lovecraft. Iron Hive had a limited-time demo go out last year that did a great job showcasing the game’s premise and gameplay loop, and even in that early state, it already felt very polished. Since then, though, Iron Hive has mostly gone silent, with very few updates from the development team and no release date in sight other than a nebulous “coming soon” on the game’s Steam Store page.

• Developer — HypeTrain Digital
• Publisher — HypeTrain Digital
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch
• Original Reveal Date — 2020
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

Those who have been following Akatori should be well-versed in the game’s tendency to release updates on its progress in inconsistent fits and spurts. After originally starting as a project under a completely different name, Akatori would debut its official name change and deliver a public demo back in 2022, but has since been mostly MIA ever since. That silence is especially surprising considering how great the demo felt just a couple of years ago, coming across as a very well-put-together slice of gameplay for what seemed like, at the time, one of the most promising upcoming Metroidvanias outside of Hollow Knight: Silksong. Well, Silksong has arrived, which paves the way for other Metroidvanias to safely release without competing with the genre’s most anticipated title, so hopefully Akatori will reveal its official release strategy early next year.

• Developer — The Wild Gentlemen
• Publisher — Kwalee
• Genre — Immersive Sim, FPS
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — January 2023
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

The pseudo comeback of the immersive sim has been an exciting thing to watch for fans who grew up alongside early 2000s greats like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, and RetroSpace has been one of the more exciting-looking new games in the genre since its initial reveal back at the beginning of 2023. Unfortunately, since then, little has been revealed regarding when players can expect the game. That said, RetroSpace is at least on track to arrive soon, with a recent devlog from October of this year claiming that development is proceeding nicely, combined with the studio being able to secure a publishing partner with Kwalee. With any luck, we should hopefully get a playable demo for RetroSpace during the first Steam Next Fest of 2026, only to maybe get to try out the full game later next year.

• Developer — Sukeban Games
• Publisher — Sukeban Games
• Genre — Action RPG, Shooter
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — July 2024
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

Of all the games on this list that players have been eagerly anticipating, .45 Parabellum Bloodhound is one of the few that we haven’t known about for all that long, but that’s done little to take away from its hype. Coming from the same developer responsible for the excellent VA-11 Hall-A, Parabellum Bloodhound is a very different kind of game, mixing elements of shooters and action RPGs into a PS1-inspired adventure that’s eerily reminiscent of Parasite Eve. If anyone can pull that mix off, it’s Sukeban Games, which makes the lack of any updates or even a projected window of release complete torture. Of all the games that could potentially have demos in the first Steam Next Fest of 2026, .45 Parabellum Bloodhound would likely be one of the most downloaded and played simply from the amount of pre-release hype it’s gotten.

• Developer — Another Angle Games
• Publisher — Owlcat Games
• Genre — TRPG
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — August 2024
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

While it’s not being developed in-house by the studio, Owlcat Games is lending itself as a publisher to one of the most exciting upcoming TRPGs, Shadow of the Road. It makes sense, given how excellent Owlcat’s Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is, and the initial closed playtest and public demo for Shadow of the Road have only further confirmed that it’s got it where it counts in the gameplay department. Outside of those initial slices of playtime, though, Shadow of the Road has mostly been quiet, which is hopefully a sign that the game will be fully playable sooner rather than later. Like Rogue Trader, Shadow of the Road has some rock-solid tactical combat backed up by strong writing, interesting dialogue, and a unique setting that differentiates it from the typical high fantasy CRPG and TRPG fare.

• Developer — Andrés Borghi, Saibot Studios
• Publisher — New Blood Interactive
• Genre — Adventure, Survival Horror
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — September 2023
• Projected Release Date — “Coming Soon”

If New Blood Interactive is publishing a horror title, you can almost guarantee that it’s going to be great, which made its decision to publish the solo-developed Tenebris Somnia a good sign for what players could expect from the game. It would come as no surprise, then, to see how excellent Tenebris Somnia‘s playable demo was, to the point where it felt like we would be getting the full version of the game any day now. Unfortunately, it’s been over a year since the game’s official playable debut at a Steam Next Fest, with no word on when players can reasonably expect the full game. But given that Tenebris Somnia is both a solo-developed game and that it includes a mixture of in-game assets and live-action footage, it’s at least understandable for the game’s development to take an extended amount of time.

• Developer — Sonka
• Publisher — Sonka
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch
• Original Reveal Date — December 2022
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

Another exciting upcoming horror title that’s been on players’ radars for years now is Holstin, which was able to initially grab plenty of headlines for its perspective-shifting gameplay that switches from an isometric viewpoint in its adventuring and survival horror elements to a behind-the-shoulder third-person camera view for combat. It’s a gimmick that not only looks cool, but works incredibly well in practice, and that we’ve gotten two separate public demos (each with completely different content from one another) in the time since its reveal seems to indicate that the finished full product is still a ways off. But with how strong both of those demos have been, it’s probably a safe bet to anticipate Sonka being able to land a solid publishing partner for the full version of Holstin.

• Developer — Mongoose Rodeo
• Publisher — Mongoose Rodeo
• Genre — Metroidvania, Soulslike
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — April 2021
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

With Hollow Knight: Silksong now out in the world, it’s probably Crowsworn that takes the crown for being the most anticipated new Metroidvania, and it’s a passing of the torch that makes complete sense given how much the original Hollow Knight inspired Crowsworn‘s creation. Despite being revealed way back in 2021, Crowsworn has been just about as radio silent as Silksong was up until just a couple of weeks before its release, and it’s not too far-fetched to imagine Mongoose Rodeo utilizing a similar strategy for Crowsworn‘s release. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take a full 6 years to get our hands on the game like it did with Silksong.

• Developer — Team Vultures
• Publisher — Firesquid
• Genre — Survival Horror, TRPG
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — June 2024
• Projected Release Date — “Coming Soon”

Hearing “Resident Evil-meets-turn-based-tactics” is something that’s bound to make a very specific subset of gamers very excited, and that’s precisely what Vultures is. No surprise, then, that its demo at Steam Next Fest from earlier this year blew indie horror fans away, mixing the vibes of the original PS1 Resident Evil with tense and short tactical turn-based battling mechanics that are less XCOM 2 and more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. The tactical aspect of Vultures fits perfectly within the context of a survival horror adventure, and that first demo both solidified the game’s concept and presented a very enjoyable slice of gameplay. Since then, though, nothing from Vultures outside a vague “Coming Soon” on Steam.

• Developer — Flippfly
• Publisher — Flippfly
• Genre — On-Rails Shooter, Flight Combat
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — November 2020
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

With how rare it is that we get a new game that uses Star Fox as its primary inspiration, Flippfly can take as much time as it needs to keep cooking on Whisker Squadron. But at a certain point, an update on the game’s progress and some new screenshots feels necessary. So far, we’ve gotten neither of those things, but we have received a roguelike spin-off that’s pretty fun in its own right. The cel-shaded visuals and air-tight (pun-intended) flying and shooting mechanics are all on full display in the roguelike version of the game, so at least we have that to keep us busy until the main game actually releases.

• Developer — Voragine Game Studio
• Publisher — Voragine Game Studio
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S
• Original Reveal Date — October 2023
• Projected Release Date — “Coming Soon”

Fans of Blasphemous and its sequel should make it a top priority to put Eden’s Guardian on their wishlist. Eden’s Guardian‘s setting and atmosphere incorporate much more high fantasy than the religious symbolism of Blasphemous, but with that also comes some gameplay tweaks that help to distinguish it from both of those landmark genre titles. Eden’s Guardian may look like other games you’ve played, but its super-satisfying movement is something that definitively separates it from the Blasphemous games, even if the visuals and animations are very similar.

• Developer — Ivar Hill, Slipgate Ironworks
• Publisher — 3D Realms
• Genre — FPS, Immersive Sim
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — February 2020
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

Another great-looking ImmSim that seems to continually evade release is Core Decay. Unlike RetroSpace, which only just recently secured a publisher for its eventual launch, Core Decay has had 3D Realms on the hook as its publisher since right after its initial reveal, and the hunger players have for more immersive sim experiences has only increased since then. But, like several of the other games on this list, Core Decay is a mostly solo-developed project, which puts a lot of weight on just one person to handle the ins and outs of a successful launch strategy. With 5 years in development under its belt, we should hopefully get another major playable chunk in the next year.

• Developer — Replicant D6
• Publisher — Replicant D6
• Genre — FPS
• Platforms — PC
• Original Reveal Date — June 2022
• Projected Release Date — “Coming Soon”

Don’t wave a GoldenEye and Perfect Dark-like in people’s faces and expect them not to get excited. Quite the opposite; Agent 64 is one of the most anticipated FPS games, and the excitement players have for it only seems to increase by the day. A large part of the game’s success hinges on its audiovisual identity and ability to replicate the classics of the Nintendo 64 so well, but it’s also a fantastic course that can be converted into facilitator guides and more. The only downside? Online play means no ability to chastise people for peeking at screens and anticipating an opponent’s playbook.

• Developer — Pixel Arc Studios
• Publisher — Pixel Arc Studios
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 4
• Original Reveal Date — September 2018
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

The game on this list that’s been in development the longest is, without a doubt, Bushiden, which is currently on track to beat Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s record when it comes to “years between its reveal and release”. But Bushiden has also had a bit more of a complicated development than other games, first gaining and then losing a publisher midway through, only to then make the decision to release independently (at least for now). Thankfully, backers were provided a demo several months agao that showcased how much work has gone into making Bushiden a fantastic new game that feels like an old game, calling back to the JRPGs of lore and using that framework to tell a great story. Now all we need is for Bushiden to narrow down a release window.

• Developer — Yacht Club Games
• Publisher — Yacht Club Games
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• Original Reveal Date — February 2022
• Projected Release Date — “To Be Announced”

In a twist of cruel fate, Mina the Hollower was supposed to launch on Halloween this year, only to receive a last-minute delay. That 11th-hour shift was apparently done to preserve Yacht Club Games’ commitment to quality, but it’s still surprising with how great Mina‘s demo is. That the delay wasn’t for a set time but a nebulous postponement of the game’s launch feels especially ominous. It can be very tough as an indie game developer to cut through the noise and connect with your biggest audience, but Yacht Club Games has always been successful by sticking to its guns and doing things on its own timetable, so hopefully the delay of Mina is something that results in a net positive.