Saw: Genesis was set to be the next asymmetrical multiplayer horror game to debut, but its 2026 early-access launch has been pushed to 2027, developer Bloober Team announced. 

The horror-focused studio said it needs more time to get Saw: Genesis to a place the team is satisfied with.

It's an interesting admission, since some teams use Steam Early Access for exactly that purpose: to get the game in good shape. But in the increasingly competitive and crowded space of licensed multiplayer horror games, a bad first impression may be more damaging than a reverse bear trap strapped to your face.

We've seen a lot of games like this since Dead by Daylight kicked off a wave of them in 2016, but my appetite remains insatiable because no two are really quite alike. It's exciting to see how studios transpose different horror movies' signature elements into interactive experiences, but when I checked out Saw: Genesis at Summer Game Fest, I came away underwhelmed. 

The 3v1 gameplay loop wasn't easy to follow in my hands-off demo. It's set about a century before the movies, with one person playing as a Jigsaw-like "Judge" who runs three others through his maze of torture devices and traps, trying to kill them all before any of them can escape the end of his trials. 

The team of three may have brief windows of opportunity to attack the Judge, though a really skilled Judge may never even give them a chance, lurking in corridors the victims can't access, slinking out to activate his next hellish device.

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