Ori 3 rumors hit a wall after Moon’s CEO called them “nonsense”

That familiar rush of seeing an Ori rumor catch fire before a major Xbox event has ended in a blunt correction. The people who made Nibel say there is no new game to anticipate from them right now, and for a series so closely tied to Moon Studios, that is not a throwaway denial. It is the key distinction.

Mahler is not merely swatting away a bad leak. He is drawing a line between fan expectation and actual control. Moon cannot simply put Ori back into production on its own, which means rumor season only gets real when Microsoft does something concrete with the license.

Mahler’s message was simple: he has heard nothing

Thomas Mahler, Moon Studios’ co-founder and CEO, dismissed the circulating Ori 3 claims as “nonsense” on August 24, 2026. He said he had heard nothing about another Ori game, despite chatter that Xbox was developing one without Moon. Mahler repeated the point in follow-up posts, which turns this from vague social-media pushback into the clearest public signal fans have right now.

That wording matters. It does not establish what Microsoft may or may not discuss internally, and it does not prove that no Ori-related idea exists anywhere in the background. What it does establish is much narrower and much firmer: Moon Studios is not presenting an Ori sequel as an active project, and Mahler says he has no knowledge of one.

For anyone reading the room ahead of showcase season, that is enough to cool expectations fast. There is no solid basis here for treating an imminent Ori reveal as locked in.

The Gareth Coker detail is why this denial landed harder

One detail makes the whole exchange hit with more weight than the average “no comment” dodge. Gareth Coker, composer of the Ori games, asked Mahler about doing “another one” while visiting Vienna to work on the No Rest for the Wicked soundtrack. Mahler pointed to that conversation as further evidence that no sequel plan had pulled in the obvious creative partners.

That does not mean Coker would have to be involved in any future Ori project, and it does not prove anything about Microsoft’s private thinking. It does, however, underline how thin the rumor looked once one of the franchise’s central creators publicly said he had heard nothing at all.

This is also a licensing story, not only a rumor story

Ori and the Blind Forest, Moon’s action-platformer built around traversal, combat, and exploration, launched on Windows and Xbox One on March 11, 2015. Its Definitive Edition later reached Nintendo Switch on September 27, 2019, adding new areas, abilities, and story content. Moon created the franchise, but Mahler says Microsoft controls the Ori IP.

That is the part fans cannot skip past. Mahler has also said Moon would return “in a heartbeat” if it got the go-ahead, which is a very different thing from saying a sequel is happening. His framing leaves Microsoft as the gatekeeper. If another Ori game ever moves forward, the decision runs through licensing, approval, and portfolio priorities before it turns into a trailer.

Mahler has gone even further than that, saying Moon has internally discussed buying the Ori property back from Microsoft. That is meaningful context, but only context. No sale has been announced, no terms have been disclosed, and no new project came attached to that discussion.

He has also argued that a franchise this specific needs the right talent behind it, not just any team assigned to the logo. That is clearly how he sees Ori’s future, even if the final call is not his alone.

Moon’s attention is on No Rest for the Wicked

For now, Moon’s public work remains No Rest for the Wicked. Mahler says future updates for that game will use the studio’s own “Wicked Inside” format rather than being squeezed into Gamescom-style presentation slots. In other words: Moon wants room to explain its plans on its own schedule, not in a two-minute trailer window between larger publisher beats.

No Rest for the Wicked is still in its Early Access phase, and Moon has pointed to a planned 1.0 launch in October. Whether that timing shifts or not, the broader point is clear enough: the studio’s day-to-day focus is on finishing and supporting its current game, not teasing an Ori comeback.

What to watch next if you still want Ori 3

The next meaningful Ori signal has to come from one of three places.

First, Microsoft could comment publicly or formally greenlight a project. Second, Moon could say more about those internal discussions around buying the IP back. Third, an actual announcement could surface with a named studio and clear ownership context instead of another rumor loop feeding on itself.

Until one of those things happens, the practical read is pretty plain. Microsoft still holds the key, Moon is busy with No Rest for the Wicked, and fans should treat Ori 3 as a franchise hope rather than a real near-term expectation.