This November would not appear like different Novembers, not on the sport launch calendar anyway. Sometimes, this month is reserved for the discharge of some of the largest video games of the yr, strategically timed to drop simply earlier than the vacation season and occasions like The Sport Awards. However in 2026, almost each huge writer and even plenty of smaller ones backed away from November for one apparent motive: Grand Theft Auto 6.
Rockstar’s long-awaited sequel will seemingly break each leisure gross sales report that exists. Launching in that type of blast radius is not an attractive prospect for many. Nevertheless it did not scare off Denkiworks, creators of Tanuki: Pon’s Summer time, and I wished to know why.
Talking with him by way of e mail, sport director Liam Edwards informed me that whereas GTA 6 was actually a consideration, there is not any sense in ready for all the celebs to align as a result of that is not what the celebs do within the video games trade.
“Actually, it was in everybody’s thoughts, I feel, all yr. ‘When is that sport releasing,'” Edwards informed me. “However I feel for us truly, after we lastly selected November, it was a mixture of: ‘Okay, we have now to ship and might’t hold ready round. If we delay, there are additionally lots of of video games like ours, different indies who can have delayed, after which we’re preventing in opposition to them for consideration.’ There’s sadly no ‘proper reply.'”
He mentioned that his developer pals have questioned the choice, too, however added that Denkiworks hopes Tanuki: Pon’s Summer time is “sufficient of a very good time” that gamers will discover it after taking part in video games like GTA 6 and The Ocarina of Time remake, even when they do not catch it on this small window between that pair of November titans.
I have been taking part in and loving Tanuki for a couple of week now. It is a third-person journey sport that blends parts of BMX tips with mail supply in a quaint Japan-inspired city, and stars a lovable raccoon attempting his best–provided he will get away from bed on time. It seems like a Nintendo sport that someway went multiplatform. Characters are as charming because the world round them is vibrant, and Pon seems like an on the spot fan-favorite character and mascot. (Might any person please make a plushie of this fella? My daughter is begging you!)
Edwards mentioned the sport began out as his option to give again to Japan, which he moved to over a decade in the past and grew to understand. Impressed by 4 particular cities–Kyoto, Sapporo, Beppu, and Aomori–he informed me he and his group sought to bottle the area’s genuine feeling. They appeared to all elements of Japan’s signature structure and temples, even all the way down to smaller quirks like its colourful manhole covers. This surroundings is introduced to the gamers by way of the eyes of Pon, who’s initially an outsider, very like Edwards as soon as noticed himself.
All the time envisioned as a biking-in-Japan sport of some form, Edwards famous that he first wrestled with concepts of constructing Pon’s Summer time in response to the pandemic, with a narrative about individuals who could not depart their houses. Nonetheless, the group pivoted to achieve for one thing extra optimistic as a result of a lot else on the time felt adverse.
As a substitute of navigating a neighborhood of shut-ins, Pon interacts with people throughout city, doing odd jobs within the type of mini-games, like sumo wrestling and dealing a sushi bar. As he bikes round, an lively soundtrack takes over, and although it isn’t diegetic, it feels as if it invigorates the lovably lazy raccoon.
The top result’s a captivating journey sport that mashes up the mail-delivery coziness of Lake with the extreme-sports aptitude of Tony Hawk Professional Skater, all in a just-go-with-it story paying homage to a Ghibli movie. It is a mix I did not know I used to be ready for, however scripting this after an evening through which I wakened three hours early with GTA 6-induced job nervousness, it seems Tanuki: Pon’s Summer time is strictly what I wanted this November.
Tanuki: Pon’s Summer time is out now on PC, PS5, Xbox Sequence X|S (together with Sport Go), Swap 2, PS4, Xbox One, and Swap.
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