High On Life 2 locks Feb 13, 2026 — bigger, weirder, and now with skateboards

Why This Caught My Eye

High On Life 2 finally has a date: February 13, 2026, on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series with Day One Game Pass. That’s a smart move for a comedy-forward FPS that lives or dies on curiosity and word of mouth. What really made me perk up wasn’t the date, though-it’s the promise of a revamped level design and a new skateboarding system set across floating convention platforms on a planet literally called ConCon. That’s the kind of bold, chaotic energy Squanch Games thrives on when it works.

• Release date is locked: February 13, 2026; Day One on Game Pass.
• Movement overhaul: skateboarding joins grappling for faster, more vertical traversal.
• Writing shift: Justin Roiland isn’t involved; returning voices Betsy Sodaro and J.B. Smoove are back, with newcomer Ralph Ineson.
• Story jumps five years ahead, with Lizzie now a hunted figure and the player on the run.

Breaking Down the Announcement

High On Life 2 picks up five years after the first game’s chaos. You’re once again the bounty hunter, but this time the bounty is personal: your sister Lizzie is wanted, depending on who you ask, for terrorism or freedom fighting. That setup flips the “go hunt the bad guys” structure into a “keep your crew alive while everything collapses” road-movie vibe, which fits Squanch’s brand of sci-fi satire.

The headline location, ConCon (short for Convention Convention), sounds like a developer’s dream and a level designer’s nightmare-floating, theme-park-like platforms for any convention imaginable. If they nail the navigation, it could be the perfect playground for the new skateboard and returning grappling knife (Knifey). The talking guns are back-expect Gus and Sweezy to chew scenery—and a new blade/antagonist called Sheath voiced by Ralph Ineson, whose gravelly menace should give the punchlines some edge. Betsy Sodaro (Sweezy) and J.B. Smoove (Gus) returning is a relief; those performances carried a lot of the first game’s humor.

The Real Story: Movement And Level Design

The first High On Life had flashes of great traversal—zip lines, grapples, and secret-stuffed hubs—but it often felt like the levels weren’t built to fully support the toys. A skateboard changes the equation. Done right, it could push the game toward a faster, flow-state shooter-platformer, closer to the pace of Titanfall 2’s parkour or Neon White’s momentum puzzles, just with more slime and sarcasm. Done poorly, it’s a gimmick you hop on for five seconds before another corridor.

The team says level design is “revamped,” which is the key phrase here. ConCon’s vertical stacks and floating chunks imply multi-route arenas and more reasons to revisit zones with new tools. If the 42-minute Gamescom demo is representative, expect bigger spaces and more traversal loops that reward mastery. The question I still have: does combat actually leverage the movement? Can you board-slide into fights, cancel into grapples, and chain abilities without clunk? If so, this sequel could be more than “the funny FPS.” It could be a legit movement shooter with jokes.

Humor Without Roiland: Risk And Opportunity

Let’s address the squanchy elephant: Justin Roiland isn’t involved. For some, that’s a red flag; for others, it’s a relief. The first game’s comedy was polarizing—some loved the relentless chatter, others dove into the options menu to crank it down. The saving grace was that the guns felt like characters with arcs, not just punchline machines. With Betsy Sodaro and J.B. Smoove back, the comedic rhythm has a foundation, and Ralph Ineson’s presence hints at sharper contrasts between menace and absurdity. My ask: keep the chatter slider, vary joke cadence, and let quiet moments breathe. Comedy lands harder with pacing.

Value Check: Platforms, Game Pass, And Performance

Day One Game Pass means trying it is a no-brainer for Xbox and PC players, and launching on PS5 at the same time broadens the audience after the original’s timed exclusivity dance. What I’m watching closely is PC performance and settings. High On Life’s PC launch had rough edges (inconsistent frame pacing and stutters until patches). If Squanch ships with robust options—field-of-view ranges, motion blur/grain toggles, DLSS/FSR/XeSS, and a sensible “gun chatter” slider—it’ll go a long way. The delay from “winter 2025” to February 2026 suggests they’re taking the time; fingers crossed it’s spent on polish, not just punch-up.

What Gamers Should Watch For

• Traversal depth: Is the skateboard integrated into combat and exploration, or a one-off toy?
• Level variety: Do ConCon’s districts play differently and reward revisits with new tools?
• Comedy controls: Keep adjustable chatter and subtitle readability options.
• Encounter design: Smarter enemy behaviors and boss variety beyond HP sponges.
• Performance: Solid framerate targets on consoles, plus PC scalability and stability at launch.
• Post-launch plan: Meaningful updates or expansions like High On Knife, not filler.
• Monetization: No mention of microtransactions—let’s hope it stays that way.

TL;DR

High On Life 2 lands February 13, 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox, Day One on Game Pass. The big swing is movement—skateboarding plus improved level design could elevate the whole experience if combat embraces momentum. Without Roiland, the humor has something to prove, but the returning cast and sharper premise give me reasons to be cautiously optimistic.