While there have been rumors of a third game in the Ori franchise being developed at Saber Interactive, the studio’s chief creative officer, Tim Willits, has now officially denied that such a project is in the works. Speaking to Gamertag Radio, Willits was asked about whether Saber was working with Xbox on Ori 3, to which he responded by simply saying, “No, sorry.”
“We have some really exciting things that we will announce soon, you know, but, I mean, look at our slate. We’re working with Keanu Reeves on John Wick. We’re working with dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. We have so much cool stuff we’re working on.”
“We have some fun stuff, like we’re big, you know, we’re growing. We got some big games, some small games. So, you know what? Stay tuned to Saber. We have some fun stuff coming up.”
Rumors implying that Saber Interactive was working on a new Ori game came about last week, indicating that the company would officially unveil the title during a new Xbox Developer_Direct in Fall. While other industry insiders have noted that a new entry in the metroidvania franchise is likely in the works, when it will be officially unveiled remains unknown.
In response to this, the CEO of original Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps developer Moon Studios, Thomas Mahler, has called these rumors nonsense. In a social media post, he spoke about potentially making a new Ori game “in a heartbeat if we’d get the go-ahead!”
The first game in the series, Ori and the Blind Forest, was released all the way back in 2015 on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The title puts players in the shoes of a fox-like forest spirit made out of light named Ori. Along with its companion – a small orb of light named Sein – Ori has to brave through a forest filled with dangerous flora and fauna to face off against a massive bird that wants to kill it, named Kuro.
The core story of the Ori franchise is kicked off when Ori is ripped from a mystical tree and is eventually adopted by Naru. However, eventually, the tree calls out for its lost child, which in turn kicks off a dangerous chain of events that leave the fate of the entire forest in the balance.
The sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, came out in 2020 on PC and Xbox One, with an eventual Nintendo Switch port later in the year. Once more putting players in the shoes of Ori, following the events of the first game, things have gotten peaceful, and Kuro’s last hatchling, Ku, is being raised by Ori, Naru, and Gumo. However, as Ku learns to fly, she is separated from Ori, and their attempts to reunite kicks off a fresh adventure.
While both titles heavily involved metroidvania-style gameplay and level design, the sequel focused quite a bit more on its core combat, and even featured some epic boss fights, unlike the first game.
For more details, check out our reviews of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
