The Ascent is getting a major update at year five — and a sequel looks likely

Neon Giant's cyberpunk twin-stick RPG The Ascent is turning five, and publisher Krafton is marking the occasion with a surprise major update due in November 2026 — plus a thinly veiled hint that a sequel is in development.

The update promises a smoother experience for both solo and co-op players, with specific fixes to co-op teleportation, the encounter system, save-game reliability, and player-progression reliability. Krafton's announcement also included a line that's hard to read any other way: "Final details will be shared closer to release alongside plans to expand The Ascent across new platforms, genres and future sequels." Neon Giant co-founder Arcade Berg added that the update "marks a new chapter for the game and for our ambitions for The Ascent as a franchise." The game has reached over 12 million players since its 2021 launch.

The Ascent launched on PC and Xbox to strong player reception, praised for its dense, hyper-detailed cyberpunk environments and satisfying co-op gunplay — even if its story never quite matched its visuals. The mention of "new platforms" has fans speculating about a Nintendo Switch 2 port, while "new genres" opens the door to something more ambitious, potentially a first-person take on the setting. Neon Giant is a 20-person studio, which makes all of this a significant undertaking — they're also deep in development on No Law, a separate open-world game with Cyberpunk 2077 vibes.

Full details on both the update and whatever comes next for the franchise are expected closer to the November 2026 release window. Given the franchise's player numbers, a sequel announcement would surprise nobody — the only question is what form it takes.