Moon Studios has addressed concerns surrounding No Rest for the Wicked’s staggered platform rollout, clarifying that the game’s absence from Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 at launch is not the result of an exclusivity agreement.
Following speculation online, Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler explained that the studio spent months evaluating what would be required to launch the action RPG across multiple platforms while maintaining its desired quality standards.
“Since the rumor mill is already going wild on us having accepted some exclusivity deal or something… Folks, chill, none of that is the case,” Mahler wrote on social media.
According to Mahler, Moon Studios is currently confident in delivering the experience it wants on PC, Steam Deck, and PlayStation 5 when version 1.0 launches in October 2026. However, additional optimization work is still needed for Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch 2.
“On Xbox Series S and Switch 2, more hardcore optimizations are required mainly due to the smaller memory budget there,” Mahler said. He explained that No Rest for the Wicked continuously simulates and streams a dynamic game world in the background, requiring large amounts of data to be loaded and unloaded as players progress through the game.
Mahler also stressed that the studio does not want to release versions that fail to meet its standards. “We’re not in the business of shipping shoddy ports,” he said, pointing to Moon Studios’ previous work on the Ori series. “We were always insanely proud of being able to ship BOTH Ori games on Switch at 60fps, no compromises. But that took time – and the same thing is true here.”
The studio maintains that No Rest for the Wicked is still planned for all current platforms. “Our goal is simple: Wherever you play Wicked, it should feel amazing. We know what’s required to get there, and we’re continuing that work,” Mahler added.
No Rest for the Wicked first launched in early access on PC in April 2024. The full 1.0 release is scheduled to arrive in October 2026 for PC and PlayStation 5, with Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 versions planned for a later date. Developed and published by Moon Studios, the action RPG combines challenging combat with cooperative multiplayer and follows a Cerim warrior battling a devastating plague while navigating political conflict on a troubled island.
