‘Ori And The Will Of The Wisps’ creator shuts down “nonsense” rumours of new sequel

Ori And The Will Of The Wisps creator Thomas Mahler has shut down rumours that a third game is in the works.

READ MORE: AI, vinyl and indie supremacy: what’s shaping video game music in 2026? For the past week, a number of leakers have claimed Microsoft is set to announce an “unexpected” sequel to one of its classic games at Gamescom later this month.

One of the rumours that came from that leak is a third Ori game is in the works.

Ori And The Blind Forest was released in 2017 and a sequel, Ori And The Will Of The Wisps , followed in 2020.

Both games were created by Moon Studios but this new rumour says a different Xbox-owned studio would be behind the project.

However series creator Thomas Mahler has taken to social media to shut down the speculation.

“I can confirm that the Ori 3 rumors are nonsense,” he wrote .

“That said, I had Gareth [Coker, composer] over for dinner a while ago since he was recording the No Rest For The Wicked soundtrack in Vienna (you folks will LOVE it!) and even he asked me if we’d be ready to do another one. ‘It’s time’, he said!” I can confirm that the Ori 3 rumors are nonsense That said, I had Gareth over for dinner a while ago since he was recording the No Rest for the Wicked Soundtrack in Vienna (you folks will LOVE it!) and even he asked me if we'd be ready to do another one.

"It's time", he… — thomasmahler (@thomasmahler) August 23, 2026 “I think after having put billions into 343 to handle Halo and not being able to recapture the old magic, I’d guess that by now MicroSoft has learned their lesson that the right talent needs to work on those IP’s, otherwise you’ll undoubtedly get more slop,” he continued .

“Internally, we’ve been discussing our interest in purchasing the IP back.

I doubt any other studio could really do much with it, so it makes sense for this one to come home to Moon!” “It’s just a difficult title to handle… the story needs a delicate touch and you’d need to understand how to make a proper Metroidvania and follow-up on my level design – I don’t see any other studio out there that I’d trust to do that.” It’s just a difficult title to handle… the story needs a delicate touch and you’d need to understand how to make a proper Metroidvania and follow-up on my level design – I don’t see any other studio out there that I’d trust to do that. — thomasmahler (@thomasmahler) August 23, 2026 “ Ori 2 brought the story full circle.

A 3rd would just be a cash grab,” added one fan, but Mahley disagreed .

“Not if it’s done by us in the right way.