Our most anticipated 13th-century Mongolian horse game had such a popular Next Fest demo the developers have decided to delay it

The Legend of Khiimori, which according to our very own Joshua Wolens is basically Death Stranding but you get to ride a 13th-century Mongolian horse instead of Norman Reedus, was meant to launch into early access in a couple weeks following a triumphant showing in the recently-concluded Steam Next Fest. I’m sorry to say that’s not going to happen: The Next Fest demo went so well that the development team has decided to give it a few more months in the oven.

“The wonderful reception during Steam Next Fest has led to us sitting down with our publisher and together we have decided to take more time to create a more feature and content-rich experience!” the team wrote. “While this does mean that you all have to wait a little longer to get your hands on Khiimori, it also means we’ll be able to make sure you get a better game when we do release into Early Access.”

You might think that the decision to push back the early access launch reflects a negative reception to The Legend of Khiimori demo, but the dev team says that’s not the case—and to prove it, they’re leaving the demo up on Steam until November 30 rather than taking it down today as originally planned, so more people can sample it.

The numbers also point to a positive overall response: SteamDB says The Legend of Khiimori picked up more than 1,700 new wishlist additions during the week of the Next Fest, and while that’s nowhere near the 40,000+ pulled in by the chart-topping Arc Raiders, it’s a significant bump that’s good enough to place it among the top-50 gainers on Steam.

That’s especially noteworthy when you consider that The Legend of Khiimori isn’t exactly aimed at a mainstream gamer audience: You play as a horseback courier in 13th-century Mongolia, delivering mail, running errands, and taking care of a remarkably detailed and—based on Josh’s telling—often finicky mount. But in a good way.

(Josh, for the record, opined upon hearing about the delay that The Legend of Khiimori is good but “also probably good to give it a few more months in the oven.”)

The release date isn’t accurate anymore but this is still a pretty cool trailer.

I’m pretty jazzed for The Legend of Khiimori myself. Horses make me nervous and I’m too much of a fan of indoor plumbing to willingly give it up, but imagining that fresh, bracing Mongolian air while galloping across the steppes from the comfort of my expensive office chair? Yeah, that sounds like my cup of suutei tsai. I’m downloading the demo now.

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