The Messenger's retro RPG prequel Sea of Stars has been delayed into 2023

Sea of Stars, the charmingly Nintendo-style RPG follow-up to The Messenger, has been delayed into 2023, developer Sabotage Studio announced this week.

Announced back in 2020 with a Kickstarter campaign, Sea of Stars immediately won over our Tyler W with its delightfully not-quite-retro look—enhancing retro pixellated worlds with flashier, more contemporary dynamic lighting. But while the plan was to ship Sea of Stars this year, the Quebec-based developer has since explained it needs a bit more time to polish up those pixels.

Sabotage stressed that the delay was maintain both the quality of the game and the quality of the team. And while the full game won't arrive until 2023, it sounds like the plan is to hopefully release a "playable slice" sometime this year.

Sea of Stars really does look gorgeous, mind, a retro RPG painted with a kind of blooming, nostalgic haze. It's a far cry from the team's previous, Ninja Gaiden-inspired action platformer The Messenger, but supposedly takes place in the far past—following a sun wizard and a moon wizard as they lead a classic RPG party through an island fantasy romp.

It sounds wonderfully nostalgic. It's just a shame we'll have to wait a wee bit longer before setting sail on a Sea of Stars.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.

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