Delays are one of the worst things that gaming fans can hear about. However, when you really think about it, so long as the delay is for the right reasons, it’s nothing but beneficial for the title…when done right. For indie games especially, you can’t take the risk of having a “broken build” at launch, as that might sink your chances of success before you can even hope to recover. For Flashlight Games and Death Kumiai, they were supposed to drop their upcoming anime-style deck-building horror game Annihilated later this month as we previously reported. However, things have now changed.

In a special press release, the teams announced that the title will now be pushed to Q4 2026, which means the last three months of the year.

In a statement about the delay, the team revealed the reasons for the pushback:

“Development is in its final stages, and the team has been polishing the game towards the July 22 release. However, we have made the decision to take additional time for final adjustments — refining the overall game feel and fine- tuning the battle balance for a smoother experience — so that we can deliver the game at the level of quality it deserves.

During this final phase, we plan to release an updated demo and once again invite feedback from players. In return for the wait, the entire team is committed to making Annihilated a game that lives up to your expectations at launch.”

It’s clear the team didn’t want to deliver things, but they also didn’t want to have you playing a bug-filled title, especially when the game is one with a lot of depth, personal choices, and consequences that a buggy experience would’ve ruined. So, while it’s hard to wait, just keep the faith, and when the title does release later this year, enjoy the (hopefully) bug-free results to the fullest.