Hand-painted indie title delayed for 7 years is launching this July and looks like the anti-AI dream game
Tormentum II was originally scheduled to launch in 2019, and is finally releasing this July.
If human creators working on each bit of artwork in a game individually give you awe, then you shouldn’t ignore Tormentum II, which is launching on July 23, 2026.
Originally announced in 2018 and slated for a June 2019 release, the developers of Tormentum have been quiet for years. Now, a final release date of July 2026 has been confirmed, and the developers are ready to show you what took them so long.
The original game, Tormentum: Dark Sorrow, launched in 2015 and has earned a review average of Very Positive on Steam.
Tormentum II has over 150 locations, which the developers emphasise were “each painted by hand. Years of work, brushstroke by brushstroke.” In it, you play as a game developer who wakes up in a dark and mysterious world that they created, but with mysterious beings that they never put there.
Generative AI has been a hot topic in the gaming industry, with Valve “significantly” rewriting rules regarding AI disclosure in January 2026. Tormentum II’s emphasis on hand-painted artwork across a huge variety of locations should appeal to AI critics who do not want generated artwork in their games.
Tormentum II’s Steam description reads as follows: “Tormentum II is the long-awaited continuation of a dark adventure game inspired by the works of H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński.
“The gates to the surreal world of Tormentum open once again – a place filled with grim figures and revolting creatures, as if pulled straight from the worst nightmares. Its hand-drawn art, rooted in the legacy of great painters, is built to deliver a mood that crawls under your skin and stays there.”
You can wishlist Tormentum II on Steam now.
