No Rest for the Wicked Developer Blames Series S for Xbox Release Delay

Moon Studios’ action RPG No Rest for the Wicked will launch its full 1.0 release on PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam) in October 2026, but the Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2 versions will be delayed. During Sony’s latest State of Play presentation, the studio announced the PS5 release date alongside the game’s full launch on Steam, marking its transition out of Early Access on PC where it has been available since October 2024.

The delay is not due to an exclusivity deal with PlayStation, according to game director and Moon Studios founder Thomas Mahler. Instead, he attributed the timing to optimization challenges with Xbox hardware. When responding to a fan inquiry on Discord about the lack of an Xbox release date, Mahler stated: “Series S is making that rough. We’ll ship it after in a good way once it’s optimized like crazy for Switch 2 and Xbox.”

The Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 as the more affordable entry point in the current Xbox generation, has been a recurring point of discussion in the industry regarding performance optimization. Mahler had previously suggested last year that the game might skip Xbox for its 1.0 launch due to “current market conditions,” but the latest comments clarify that the technical demands of optimizing for the Series S are the primary factor.

Sources

• No Rest for the Wicked Developer Blames Series S for Xbox Release Delay
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