BODY: Fans hoping to return to Kena's world next year will have to wait a little longer. On October 1, Ember Lab announced that Kena: Mark of Kosmora has slipped out of its previous window and is now targeting a 2027 release โ a delay softened by the biggest information drop the sequel has received since its reveal.
The studio paired the schedule news with a substantial look at the story's setup. The sequel jumps forward in time: the Kena players guided through Bridge of Spirits is now older, a more experienced spirit guide, and the new material fills in what happens between the two games and what ultimately draws her to Kosmora, the island that gives the game its title. Kosmora is framed as a place with its own history of spiritual trouble, rather than a simple change of scenery.
Also detailed were the spirits who will accompany Kena. The original game built its identity around the Rot โ the tiny black creatures that doubled as puzzle tools and the game's merchandising breakout โ and the sequel adds new allies who join her party, suggesting Ember Lab is widening the companion system rather than simply reusing it.
No specific release date, platform list update, or pricing was attached to the announcement. Ember Lab remains a small independent team, and the studio's framing of the delay leans on the familiar language of wanting more time to reach the quality bar set by its debut.
The insider take
Kena landed unusually well in Japan for a Western indie title, and the reason is visible in every screenshot: the hand-painted, soft-edged character work reads to Japanese audiences as animation-film grammar rather than game-engine realism, and comparisons to Studio Ghibli followed the game through its entire 2021 press cycle. That goodwill is why 4Gamer treats a delay announcement from a Los Angeles studio as front-page games news at all. The risk for Ember Lab is timing: 2027 puts the sequel into a crowded late-generation window in Japan, where a charming, mid-sized action-adventure competes for attention against domestic tentpoles โ and where "grown-up protagonist returns" is a well-worn pitch that will need the art to carry it again.
Originally reported by 4Gamer.net โ ๆๆฐ่จไบ (Japanese).