Developer Sad Cat Studios and publisher Thunderful have announced the release date for long-delayed 2.5D narrative action-platformer (whew, that’s a lot of descriptors) Replaced, and it’s coming early next year.
As revealed in a Steam post, Replaced will be arriving on March 12th next year. As far as we know, it’s set to arrive on PC and Xbox Series X|S, with an Xbox One version also in development, although given Microsoft’s position in the hardware market, that version may be scrapped in the fullness of time.
Back in August, Sad Cat revealed that Replaced was set for a spring 2026 release window, with project lead Yura Zhdanovich acknowledging at the time that the project had been delayed numerous times but assuring fans that the studio was doing what it thought was best for the game.
Originally announced all the way back at E3 2021, Replaced is a 2.5D narrative-driven action platformer that takes place in an “alternate 1980s America scarred by nuclear catastrophe”.
You play as R.E.A.C.H., an AI (as in a real one, not a glorified chatbot) stuck in a human’s body, and you must discover the reason for your creation while exposing the sinister agenda of Phoenix Corporation. It’s a cyberpunk story, so obviously, the corporation has a sinister agenda.
Gameplay-wise, Replaced appears to be paying homage to the cinematic platformers of time gone by; think Heart of Darkness, Out of This World (also known as Another World), and Flashback, and you’ll be roughly in the right ballpark.
The game will blend exploration with “fluid movement and fast, responsive combat” in which you’ll use both melee and ranged options to take down your enemies.
Thunderful Publishing will no doubt be hoping that Replaced is a hit; recently, the studio laid off half of the workforce at subsidiary Coatsink, and it hasn’t exactly had the most secure eighteen months or so either.
In any case, Replaced will arrive on PC and Xbox Series X|S on March 12th. It’ll also be on Xbox Game Pass on day one (although only for certain tiers since the service’s rework earlier this year).
