Overview
Blight: Survival was featured at the Future Games Show: Spring Showcase 2026 on March 12, 2026. The appearance coincided with the game reaching 1.5 million Steam wishlists and included a new gameplay trailer, a combat finisher teaser, official platform confirmation for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, and interviews with Senior Creative Director Ashley Pannell.
The game was the first "Ones to Watch" deep dive segment of the Spring Showcase, giving it prominent placement in the broadcast.
New gameplay trailer
The trailer showcased updated in-engine footage running on Unreal Engine 5. Footage included directional combat encounters against both Blight-infected creatures and human enemies, environmental traversal through fog-covered medieval ruins, and cooperative team play.
The most notable new footage was a brutal finisher system showing visceral close-quarters execution moves. The finisher animations showed detailed, context-sensitive kill moves that vary based on weapon type and enemy state.
Developer commentary
Ashley Pannell sat down with IGN for an accompanying interview. Key points from his commentary:
Risk and reward is "a key element of the overall driving part of many features in the game." Every fight and every investigation carries potential consequences.
The extraction influence comes from games like Helldivers and Deep Rock Galactic, not traditional extraction shooters. "It's not driven exclusively as the extraction genre."
The core loop: "You go in, you try and amass what you can, and you can always push for more, but you could always back out when you feel like you've got something meaningful."
On community skepticism: "We understand the heightened expectations of what we are being asked to deliver upon here." The goal is to "prove that we are making a real game, that it is awesome."
Platform confirmation
The showcase officially confirmed Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 as launch platforms alongside PC (Steam). Before this event, console support had been described by the developers as "desired but not officially confirmed" since it required establishing partnerships with Xbox and PlayStation. See Platforms and Technical Details for full platform information.
Development update
Alongside the showcase, Creative Director Ulrik provided a development update. Haenir Studio is reconstructing core systems from scratch following the Behaviour Interactive partnership. The rebuild aims for improved quality, though Ulrik acknowledged this may cause development delays. The team confirmed:
Small-scale closed playtests are actively running with Discord community members
Public playtests are planned for later in 2026
Reveals, playtests, and content will ramp up throughout 2026
The game will not ship in 2026; no release date has been set
Community reaction
The 1.5 million wishlist milestone and new gameplay footage generated widespread coverage across gaming outlets including GamingBolt, PC Gamer, GamesRadar, AltChar, and numerous others. The combat finisher teaser in particular drew positive reactions for its visceral presentation.