Director calls Ori 3 rumors ‘nonsense’, amid claims Xbox is making a new game without him

Ori series creator and Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has claimed that rumors of a new game in the franchise are ‘nonsense’, as reports swirl about a potential third game.

Over the weekend, rumors of an unannounced Xbox game showing up at this week’s Gamescom event flooded social media.

Following this, NateTheHate, a popular social media account with a strong track record of reporting on unannounced video game projects before they are official, claimed that the game was a new entry in the Ori franchise, though they couldn’t confirm whether or not it would appear at this week’s show.

Ori fans then took to social media to ask Thomas Mahler, the original series creator, about the rumors, including the suggestion that Saber Interactive may be involved in the new entry.

“Once again there’s a bunch of people asking me about Ori 3 since there’s rumors floating about,” Mahler began on X.

“As before, I haven’t heard anything about any of this. I think after having put billions into 343 to handle Halo and not being able to recapture the old magic, I’d guess that by now MS has learned their lesson that the right talent needs to work on those IP’s, otherwise you’ll undoubtedly get more slop.

“Internally, we’ve been discussing our interest in purchasing the IP back. I doubt any other studio could really do much with it, so it makes sense for this one to come home to Moon!”

Mahler claimed later in the day that the rumors of a third game were “nonsense.”

“That said, I had Gareth over for dinner a while ago since he was recording the No Rest for the Wicked Soundtrack in Vienna (you folks will LOVE it!) and even he asked me if we’d be ready to do another one.”

When challenged by someone responding to his post by pointing out that NateTheHate had claimed a new Ori game is coming, Mahler said: “I just talked to people at Microsoft – but sure, you’d know better.”

Following the development of the second Ori game, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Moon Studios switched focus and developed No Rest for the Wicked, an action RPG.

In March 2025, the studio became “fully independent” after regaining the publishing rights to No Rest for the Wicked from Take-Two. Moon Studios has expressed interest in returning to the Ori franchise previously.