New Stardew Valley-Like Xbox Game Pass Game Delayed to 2026

Fans of Xbox Game Pass will have to wait a bit longer than expected to take their first trip to Witchbrook, an upcoming game from Chucklefish that mixes the cozy appeal of a Stardew Valley-like life sim with the allure of studying at a school of magic. While the game is still anticipated as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass, players will have to wait until sometime in 2026 to begin their magical education.

Following the beginning of Chucklefish's past involvement in publishing help with ConcernedApe's Stardew Valley on various platforms, Witchbrook was first announced in 2018, offering the potential of a cozy life sim not built around farming. Chucklefish is much better known for its publishing than its game development, but it has some experience, including 2019's Wargroove and its 2023 sequel, Wargroove 2.

How This Stardew Valley-Like Game's School Setting Taps into Harry Potter's Magic

This Stardew Valley-like game promises to bewitch its players, and it's partially because it captures what made the Harry Potter franchise magical.

Posts

By Carla Carmona

Witchbrook Has Been Delayed Until 2026

A newly released developer blog post from the game's creators now states that Witchbrook is being moved off its planned winter 2025 release window and will be pushed back until an unspecified date in 2026. Work on the game over the course of this year has brought a lot of progress in Witchbrook's development, according to Chucklefish, and while the game in progress is meeting the development team's expectations, it doesn't sound like it will be arriving at the expected time. Stating it is "letting the cauldron bubble," Chucklefish is taking advantage of the additional time before launch to pursue additional platforms for release and increase language support, potentially opening up the game to a much broader player base. In addition to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, Witchbrook is already planned for release on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Along with the delay announcement, Chucklefish has also shared more information on the upcoming game's world. While Witchbrook is a game that lets players attend magic school, it will feature several areas outside the magical college itself, including forest, beach, and village settings. The new update shines some light on Mossport, which appears from an overhead view to be a rural, farm-like area complete with fields, farm buildings, and a windmill. The developers state they're currently at work adding quest and story content to this particular region.

Witchbrook Mossport Interactive map Cropped

Word of the delay comes at a tumultuous time for the Xbox gaming subscription service. At the start of October, Microsoft announced it was increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass' Ultimate tier by 50 percent while simultaneously adding 48 games to its library. Despite the new additions, the news seemed to result in a catastrophic backlash from customers, and the ensuing wave of Game Pass cancellations crashed the service's website due to server overload.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image