TANUKI: Pon’s Summer delayed to 2026

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The release of TANUKI: Pon’s Summer, a mail delivery adventure game from CRITICAL REFLEX and Denkiworks, has been pushed back from late 2025 to 2026. The game will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Steam, and will also be included with Xbox Game Pass.

Denkiworks announced that the game will now be released in 2026, with a specific date coming later. They apologized for any disappointment and said they’re excited for players to experience Pon’s adventure. While delaying a game is difficult, the team believes the extra time will help them make it even better.

Denkiworks also shared the latest development progress:

Wow, the response to the demo was incredible! Seriously, you guys were so positive and it really motivated us to push even harder on the game. We’ve been heads-down working on making things even better for everyone, and I’m excited to give you a sneak peek at what we’ve been up to!

  • Navigation Improvements – From player-placed tags to a minimap. We heard that sometimes finding your way around town was a bit tough. We wanted to give you some tools to make sure your deliveries are a breeze!
  • Mission Improvements – Objective markers, player-chosen mission order. Less restricted, more exploration-friendly.
  • A Lot More Activities! – Important jobs and engrossing hobbies for Pon, their amount and variety are ever-growing.
  • New Town – A whole complete island to explore, just across the bay.

A Little More About This New Area

After enjoying the dense forest, a quick train ride will bring you to the town on the other side of the bay. Every small town has its own unique charm, and this one is especially appealing if you love mountain biking! It boasts vibrant scenery, winding trails, and challenging rails for grinding. The town has a distinct atmosphere, and a lively tanuki will feel right at home.

Moving to a new town brings opportunities to meet new people and try new activities. You could learn a valuable trade, like stonemasonry from a local expert, or simply support local businesses.

It’s proving difficult for Pon to fund and fix up the grand shrine, especially with his small size! He has a lot to learn – thankfully, people are happy to teach him, but he’ll need to put in all the work himself. This summer will be full of challenges for the tanuki, from moving enormous rocks to operating complicated machines.

You can also enjoy relaxing hobbies. Things like searching for interesting insects like stag beetles and rare butterflies and recording your finds in a journal. Or, if you’re fishing, the thrill of trying to reel in a really big catch without falling in the water!

We’ve been working really hard to make TANUKI: Pon’s Summer the best game it can be!

We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made, and we believe the current demo doesn’t fully showcase the amazing world we’ve created.

We’re letting you know that the demo download will soon be unavailable. We extended access to give you a chance to try it, but the final version will be significantly better!

We have a lot of exciting work planned for the coming months. We’re focusing on making the story and conversations more engaging, upgrading the character designs and movements, and refining and expanding the things players can do. We’re even considering adding a helicopter built from salvaged parts!

Thank you for your patience, we hope to have you biking around in 2026! Happy Holidays!

Watch the delay announcement trailer below.

2026 Delay Trailer

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2025-12-24 16:46