Slay the Spire 2 early access release date delayed to March 2026

Developer Mega Crit is citing the need for additional polish.

by · Shacknews

Developer Mega Crit helped usher in the first Triple-I Showcase in grand fashion, announcing Slay the Spire 2 with an estimated early access release date of 2025. The developer then had viewers of The Game Awards excited later that year with the game's first official gameplay trailer. It ended with a breathtaking stinger that the game would go into early access... still in 2025. It is now nine months after that last trailer and, unfortunately, that 2025 early access no longer appears to be in the cards.

The following was posted to the Slay the Spire Steam page (via Wario64):

After a lot of internal discussion, we've made the call to move Slay the Spire 2's Early Access launch to a secret Thursday in March 2026.
We know this isn't the news anyone wanted to hear (ourselves included, we're dying to get this into your hands!) Originally, we were shooting for late 2025, but turns out we were wrong. We need some more time.
There's no single dramatic reason. Some personal life stuff hit the team (everyone's okay!), we kept saying "wouldn't it be cool if..." one too many times, and honestly, the game just needs more polish to meet our standards.
Source: Mega Crit

The FAQ that followed notes that while Mega Crit is aiming for additional polish, the team is also looking into some additional features for the eventual early access release. This includes one that was revealed today, which will see players unlock alternate acts as they progress through their story. This is to add even more variety to the roguelite experience.

While it's sad that Slay the Spire 2 won't make that 2025 early access date that it had aimed since the original reveal trailer, the need for polish is understandable. We'll even forgive the silly stinger at the end of that Game Awards trailer and agree with the team that "it was pretty funny at the time." We'll be sure to watch for more news on Slay the Spire 2 here at Shacknews, so keep it here for any updates.