Melvor Idle 2: release date and everything we know.

Melvor Idle 2 release date: what we know so far

Melvor Idle 2 is planned for Steam Early Access in 2026, and as of the September 29, 2026 development update the team says it is "still on track." There is still no exact date. The post says a dedicated news post will announce it once it is locked in, and it names the one thing that could push it back: if feedback from the October Next Fest demo shows the early game is not ready, "we might need some more time to smooth it out." The Steam page still lists "Planned Release Date: 2026." No month or day has been given, so anyone quoting one is guessing.

The wording has firmed up over the year. March 2026 said "the current plan is some time this year." June added a "hopefully." September drops the hedge and says the team is "pretty confident" Early Access launches this year, adding that the game already has far more core content than Melvor Idle 1 had at its own Early Access launch in 2020.

The Steam page is also clear that Early Access itself is a long road: Malcs expects it to "take up a total of 12 to 18 months to complete all planned content for the full version," and the price will not change between Early Access and 1.0. For context, the first Melvor Idle was announced in 2018, entered Early Access in November 2020, and hit 1.0 in November 2021, so Malcs has shipped on a stated timeline before.

The Next Fest demo, and what it tells you about the release window

The September 29 update answered the question this section used to pose: "We intend to include a demo version of Melvor Idle 2 in Steam Next Fest, which will run from October 19th to October 26th." That matters for more than the playtest, because Next Fest has published, dated rules, and those rules constrain what a release date can be.

Three of them matter here:

• A game can only ever take part in one Next Fest. Valve allows developers to pick the edition that suits their release timeline, but only once.
• Entry requires a publicly playable demo. This is the part most coverage misses. A Steam Playtest and a Steam Demo are different products in Steamworks, and Next Fest asks for a demo.
• A participating game has to release after the festival ends. So joining a Next Fest is also a commitment not to launch before it finishes.

Put the rules next to the announcement and you get two hard limits and one inference:

• Early Access cannot start before October 26, 2026. That is when the October festival closes.
• There will be no February 2027 Next Fest run. Melvor Idle 2 spends its one entry in October. The February 22 to March 1, 2027 edition is off the table for it.
• Together with "still on track for 2026," that leaves a window of roughly October 27 to December 31, 2026. The developer has not said that. It is where the two public commitments overlap, and the September post itself says Next Fest feedback could push the date back.

For the record, here is what this page said before the announcement. A Melvor Idle 2 Playtest app has been registered on Steam since August 2025 (app 3794500), but Next Fest asks for a demo, and in August no demo app existed. We wrote that a demo appearing would be the clearest public signal of a Next Fest run. The developer announced it before any such app showed up: as of September 29, Steam's store search still lists no separate Melvor Idle 2 demo. We will note it here when it appears.

One more thing we noticed before the post landed. On September 24, five days early, every screenshot on the Melvor Idle 2 Steam page was replaced in one batch: eight new images, all uploaded within the same fourteen seconds. They show alpha build v0.1.2 on desktop, including Astrology and a Mastery Guild panel. That fits the post's line that a preview of the new UI visuals is on the Steam page now.

Checked against the Steam store API, Steam's store search and Steamworks' published Next Fest documentation on September 29, 2026. The release window is our reading of public rules and public statements, not a statement from the developer.

The September 2026 update: Astrology, Mastery Guilds, and a foundation pass

The September 29, 2026 development update is the first to be signed by Althalus, who introduces themselves as the Community Manager for Melvor Idle 2 and says they will be the main point of contact for questions and feedback through Early Access. Malcs still co-writes the updates.

What shipped to the alpha. The latest major update added two features: Astrology and the Combat Mastery Guild. Astrology is described as very different from the first game's version, but still a simple, safe skill whose bonuses and modifiers touch nearly every other part of the game. The Combat Mastery Guild brings the task-based Mastery system into combat. The same update also made major changes to Thieving, which testers had flagged after the Combat Update, and added quality-of-life features for Thieving and the Bank. Minor updates since have brought bug fixes, balance changes and reworked skill interfaces.

What is being built now. The team calls it a shift in focus from adding content to the game's foundation: user interface and user experience, engine work, a major performance pass, and a round of changes from tester feedback, with Beastcrafting and Herblore getting the biggest overhauls. Alongside that is the first part of the main storyline, a series of story quests that teach the game's mechanics, go deeper into Melvor's lore, and bring new unique enemies and bosses. The updated infographic lists four things as up next: a UI Refresh, Main Storyline Acts 1 and 2, a "Craft X" feature, and Steam SDK implementation.

The Combat Update: what landed in June 2026

The June 12, 2026 development update is the most substantial public news the sequel has had. It covers the Combat Update, which Malcs calls the biggest update the game has seen yet, "and probably the biggest one it's going to see before v1.0." It took four months and shipped as one package, because every skill and system in it was deeply connected to the others.

Figures as stated in the June 12, 2026 dev update. This content is live in the Patreon alpha, not in a public build.

Two things in it matter beyond the raw counts. First, combat is designed around build diversity: Malcs says the goal was to "move away from the 'one weapon is BiS' meta that is seen in Melvor Idle," so weapon choice can change the outcome of a fight. Second, several returning non-combat Skills did not come back unchanged. Thieving, Agility, and Herblore arrived with updated mechanics or a full rework, and Agility got singled out for the complete version of that treatment. Four smaller updates have followed since, handling balance, quality of life, bugs, artwork, and number tuning.

In June the developer named Astrology plus Combat Mastery Guilds as the next major update and called it deliberately smaller, a return to "smaller, more regular content additions" after the four-month Combat Update. Mastery Guilds are MI2's task-based replacement for the first game's per-item Mastery. That update has since shipped, and the September section above covers it.

The full 29-Skill roster

The June update published a development progress infographic listing every planned Skill through 1.0, and the September update refreshed it (September infographic). The June version answered a question that had sat open on this page for months: the identity of all five new Skills. They are Ranching, Hunting, Beastcrafting, Construction, and Enchantment.

• Playable in the alpha now (25 Skills, per the September infographic). Combat: Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, Slayer, Prayer. Non-combat: Woodcutting, Firemaking, Fishing, Cooking, Mining, Smithing, Fletching, Crafting, Runecrafting, Farming, Ranching, Hunting, Herblore, Thieving, Agility, Beastcrafting, and now Astrology. Combat and Skilling Mastery Guilds are both in. The alpha carries level 1 to 99 content only.
• Up next. A UI Refresh, Main Storyline Acts 1 and 2, a "Craft X" feature, and Steam SDK implementation. No new Skill is in this group.
• Still to come before 1.0. Summoning, Construction, Archaeology, Enchantment, plus level 100 to 120 content, the rest of the main storyline, side quests, gamemodes, weather, item uses and sources, a to-do list, official mod support, tutorial and onboarding, Cloud Profiles, Friends List, and the iOS, Android, and web builds. The infographic is explicit that Early Access will launch before that list is finished.

One absence is worth naming, because people ask: Township does not appear anywhere on the roster. The settlement builder that became one of the first game's signature systems is not among the 25 in testing or the four still to come, and 25 plus 4 is exactly the 29 Skills the Steam page advertises. The September infographic did not change that. Malcs has not published a statement explaining the omission, so we are reporting the roster, not a reason.

What is Melvor Idle 2? A quick primer

Melvor Idle 2 is the direct sequel to Melvor Idle, the RuneScape-inspired idle and incremental RPG that launched in 2021 and currently sits at "Very Positive, about 92% of 8,400-plus reviews" on Steam. The sequel is a ground-up rebuild in the Godot engine with C#, a complete departure from the first game's HTML5 and TypeScript browser stack.

The biggest behind-the-scenes change: Melvor Idle 2 is self-published by Games by Malcs. To be clear about a point people often get wrong: Jagex never owned Melvor Idle. The first game shipped under a 2021 publishing partnership with Jagex (the Jagex Partners label) in which Malcs kept full creative control and ownership, while Jagex handled marketing, localisation, and QA. For the sequel he is going it alone, with no publisher and no Jagex involvement. Malcs has not publicly editorialized on that choice, so neither will we. The monetization philosophy carries over exactly: one base-game purchase, no microtransactions, with paid expansions later that raise the level cap.

Every confirmed new feature in Melvor Idle 2

Everything below is taken straight from the Steam page and the developer's public dev blog. Where something has not been revealed, we say so.

New Skills and a higher level cap

The base game will ship with 29 Skills, 5 of them brand new, and a maximum level of 120 (up from 99 in the original base game). All five new ones are now named: Ranching, Hunting, Beastcrafting, Construction, and Enchantment. Ranching has the most public detail, an MI2-exclusive skill where you manage Cows, Pigs, Sheep, Chickens, and Worms in the alpha (with Wolves, Dragons, and Elk planned). Farming returns heavily rebuilt, with Orchard Trees, Flowers, Pests, Disease, Watering, Compost Bins, a Grain Mill, and built-in auto plant, harvest, and compost. See the full roster for what is testable today versus what is still pre-1.0.

A reworked combat system

The Steam page promises "brand new combat mechanics" that "increase strategic decision making," and as of the June 2026 update that system is built and playable in the alpha, along with 40 magic spells, 34 prayers, and 135 monsters. Combat was the most-requested addition from alpha supporters and was described as roughly half of the planned alpha content; Technical Director Coolrox led its development. The Combat Mastery Guild has since extended Mastery Guilds into combat.

Quests and story

For the first time, Melvor is getting a real narrative: dialogue-driven Quests running from Level 1 to 120, side quests, Quest Bosses, and an explicit worldbuilding push with NPC dialogue.

Quality-of-life and UI

A long list of modernizations: a searchable in-game Codex, Current Action Tracking (XP per hour, items per hour, combat stats per hour), an Event Log, visible drop rates, a redesigned Bank and Equipment system with tagging, set names, and keyboard shortcuts, and an in-game Mod Manager that replaces the first game's external mod.io workflow.

Atmosphere

A custom soundtrack composed specifically for MI2, a cosmetic Day/Night Cycle and Weather system, and modernized art from two full-time 2D artists. None of it changes the core idle loop; it sets the mood around it.

How the Patreon alpha works (and why you probably should not subscribe)

The Melvor Idle 2 alpha went live on June 19, 2025. Access is gated behind the Elite Supporter Patreon tier or higher; a lower Supporter tier gets you the real-time development updates without the playable build. The alpha runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, either through Steam or as a standalone client download, and patrons get a written dev update every one to two weeks (34 of them as of June 12, 2026).

Here is the important part, in the developer's own words: "I highly recommend you don't sign up to Patreon unless you are looking to provide necessary feedback for the game and be part of its development process." In June 2026 he said it more directly still: "If you just want to play the game, your best bet is to wait until Play Testing or Early Access (or the full release)." Malcs is not running a paywall to play early; he is funding development and wants testers, not customers. Alpha saves will carry forward with no wipes.

The free playtest is a Steam Next Fest demo

The no-cost way in now has dates. The September 29 update says a demo version of Melvor Idle 2 will be part of Steam Next Fest, October 19 to 26, 2026, and presents it as the public playtest the team promised for 2026. The Patreon testers already cover new content and the late game. The demo is meant to test the new-player experience with a wide mix of players, including people who have never played an idle game, over a limited time window. What it contains is still being worked out, and a dedicated Next Fest post is promised once that is settled. Until then, do not trust anyone who lists the demo's contents.

Mobile, web, and cross-platform plans

This is the section that matters most if you are reading on a phone. Melvor Idle 2 is Steam-first. iOS and Android come after Early Access, not alongside it. The developer has now confirmed this three times, in March, June and September 2026, in the same words: "we plan to eventually release the game on iOS and Android after Steam's Early Access release." A web version is still planned, and still blocked until Godot's C# web export matures. All three platforms sit in the "before 1.0" column of the roster infographic, behind an Early Access run the Steam page pegs at 12 to 18 months. We work those dates through step by step in Melvor Idle 2 on mobile: what was said, and what the dates add up to.

Cross-platform cloud saves are confirmed, along with optional Cloud Profiles, a Friends List, and a "Presence" feature that shows how many other players are training the same thing. There is no multiplayer, no PvP, and no confirmed leaderboards; Malcs looked at full multiplayer during concepting and chose not to pursue it.

Melvor Idle 2 vs. Melvor Idle 1: the confirmed differences

A source-checked, side-by-side of what is actually changing. Anything not yet stated by the developer is left out on purpose. For the difference-by-difference breakdown and a stay-or-move decision, see Melvor Idle 2 vs Melvor Idle.

Source: the MI2 Steam page and the developer dev blog, cross-checked September 2026. MI2 is a genuine rebuild, not a re-skin, but combat depth and expansion content will lag the first game for the 12-to-18-month Early Access window.

What Malcs has not confirmed

An honest tracker says what it does not know. As of September 2026, the developer has made no public statement on: the specific MI2 base price (a third-party outlet extrapolated about $14.99 from the first game, but Malcs has not committed to a figure), an exact Early Access date (the September update commits to 2026 and promises a dedicated post), what the Next Fest demo will include, why Township is absent from the 29-Skill roster, whether Melvor Idle 1 saves, achievements, or DLC ownership carry any recognition into MI2, or whether the first game's expansions bridge to the sequel. We will fill these in here as they are answered. Items come off this list as they are answered: the names of the other three new Skills in June 2026, and the date of the free playtest, now the Next Fest demo, in September 2026.

Worth being clear about what this page is not, too. Everything above comes from public first-party sources. The alpha's patch notes, the day-to-day development detail, and most of the community discussion live behind the Patreon tiers and in patron-only Discord channels, and none of that is cited here even where the post titles are visible. If a claim about Melvor Idle 2 cannot be traced to the dev blog, the Steam page, or an official social post, treat it carefully wherever you read it.

Melvor Idle 2 FAQ

When is Melvor Idle 2 coming out?

Steam Early Access in 2026, still with no exact date. The September 29, 2026 development update says "we are still on track for an Early Access Steam launch in 2026" and promises a dedicated post once the date is locked in. It also names the one thing that could move it: if feedback from the October Steam Next Fest demo shows the early game is not ready, "we might need some more time to smooth it out." Valve requires Next Fest games to release after the festival ends, so Early Access cannot start before the festival closes on October 26, 2026. The Steam page lists "Planned Release Date: 2026."

Is combat in Melvor Idle 2 yet?

Yes, in the Patreon alpha. The Combat Update shipped to alpha testers ahead of the June 12, 2026 dev update and added the entire combat system plus 12 new Skills, 731 items, 135 monsters, 40 magic spells, 34 prayers, and 12 pets. It took four months and was the largest update the game has had. Malcs says the design goal was build diversity, moving away from the "one weapon is BiS" meta of the first game. Astrology and the Combat Mastery Guild followed in the next major update, reported in the September 29, 2026 dev update.

What are the 5 new Skills in Melvor Idle 2?

The five new to the franchise are Ranching, Hunting, Beastcrafting, Construction, and Enchantment. The first three are playable in the alpha now; Construction and Enchantment are still on the pre-1.0 list. The full 29-Skill roster became public with the development progress infographic in the June 12, 2026 update. Township, the settlement builder from the first game, does not appear anywhere on that roster.

When is the free Melvor Idle 2 playtest?

At Steam Next Fest, October 19 to 26, 2026. The September 29, 2026 development update says the team intends to include a demo version of Melvor Idle 2 in the festival, and presents it as the public playtest they promised for 2026. The demo is aimed at the new-player experience. Exactly what it contains is still being decided, and a dedicated Next Fest post is promised once it is. As of September 29 the demo is not yet listed on Steam as its own app.

What languages will Melvor Idle 2 support?

English only for now, going by the Steam page as of September 29, 2026. That is a change from the first game, which lists 13 languages including French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and Turkish. More languages are planned, but later: the June 12, 2026 development update asked "Will Melvor Idle 2 be available in languages other than English?" and answered "Yes, but not until v1.0. We already have support built in to the game to support languages other than English, so that part is already done." With Early Access planned at 12 to 18 months, that points to English only for all of Early Access. The September 29 FAQ did not repeat the question, so we will update this if the plan changes.

Will my Melvor Idle 1 save transfer to Melvor Idle 2?

There is still no public statement either way, including in the September 29, 2026 update. It is one of the most-requested things in the Steam discussions, but Malcs has neither confirmed nor denied MI1 to MI2 save or progress transfer. Within MI2, alpha saves are confirmed to carry forward with no wipes.

How do I get into the Melvor Idle 2 alpha?

Alpha access is gated behind the Elite Supporter Patreon tier or higher, and it went live on June 19, 2025. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, through Steam or a standalone client. Malcs explicitly recommends against subscribing just to play: "I highly recommend you don't sign up to Patreon unless you are looking to provide necessary feedback for the game and be part of its development process." In June 2026 he put it more plainly still: if you just want to play, wait for the playtesting, Early Access, or the full release. Those free public Steam playtests are the no-cost way in.

Will Melvor Idle 2 be on mobile (iOS and Android)?

Yes, but after Steam Early Access, not at the same time. The developer has now said it three times, in March, June and September 2026, in the same words: "we plan to eventually release the game on iOS and Android after Steam's Early Access release." So Apple and Android players face a wait on top of the Early Access wait.

Is there a web version of Melvor Idle 2?

Planned, but blocked for now. A web build is on the roadmap once Godot's C# web export matures. There is no date for it.

Will Melvor Idle 2 have microtransactions?

No. MI2 keeps Melvor Idle 1's model: a single base-game purchase, no microtransactions, with paid expansions later that raise the level cap and add content.

Did Jagex buy Melvor Idle?

No, Jagex never acquired Melvor Idle. In October 2021, Jagex and Games by Malcs announced a publishing partnership under the Jagex Partners label: Jagex handled marketing, localisation, and QA, while developer Brendan Malcolm kept ownership and full creative control. That is exactly why he can self-publish Melvor Idle 2 independently, with no Jagex involvement.

What can I play on iPhone, iPad, or Mac while I wait for Melvor Idle 2?

Since MI2 is Steam-first and only reaches mobile after Early Access, Apple players have a real gap. Tideward (which we make) is a premium idle RPG in the same RuneScape-idle lineage, built native for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch, with 28 trades, a full 24-hour offline window, and no ads or tracking. It is free in the TestFlight beta right now, and up for pre-order on the App Store. It is not Melvor Idle 2, it is a genre peer you can play today on Apple. The original Melvor Idle on iPad is the other strong option.

Keep reading

• Melvor Idle 2 on iPhone and Android, the developer's mobile statement quoted exactly, with the Early Access date arithmetic worked out.
• 12 games like Melvor Idle, ranked for 2026, the full list of what to play in the meantime, with a comparison table.
• How 24-hour offline progression works, the full-rate offline model both Melvor and Tideward use.
• Idle games like RuneScape, the lineage Melvor and its sequel come from.
• Which idle RPG should you play?, a quick chooser across the genre while you wait for the sequel.
• Best idle RPGs for iPhone, what to play on mobile until Melvor Idle 2 ships its mobile build.
• Upcoming idle games and their release dates, the genre-wide release tracker this page feeds into, including why an Apple release date is so much harder to find than a Steam one.

Update log

A tracker of what Games by Malcs has confirmed publicly, with the date each detail was announced.

• 2026-09-29, folded in the September 29, 2026 dev update. A free demo is planned for Steam Next Fest, October 19 to 26, 2026, as the promised 2026 public playtest. Early Access is "still on track" for 2026 with no exact date, which under Valve's rules means after October 26. Astrology and the Combat Mastery Guild have shipped to the alpha (25 of 29 Skills). Up next: UI Refresh, Main Storyline Acts 1 and 2, performance work, Beastcrafting and Herblore overhauls. New community manager Althalus. Mobile still after Early Access, English only on Steam. Recorded that the Steam gallery was fully re-shot on September 24. Corrected the languages answer, which had said Malcs had not addressed more languages: the June 12, 2026 FAQ says other languages come "not until v1.0", with support already built into the game.
• 2026-08-10, added our own checks against the Steam store API and Steamworks' Next Fest rules. A Melvor Idle 2 Playtest app has existed since August 2025 (app 3794500) but no Demo app exists, and Next Fest requires a demo, so a demo appearing would be the clearest public signal of a Next Fest run and of a floor under the release date. Also recorded that the Steam page lists English only, where the first game lists 13 languages.
• 2026-08-08, folded in the June 12, 2026 dev update. Combat Update live in the alpha (12 Skills, 731 items, 135 monsters, 40 spells, 34 prayers, 12 pets, 4 balance updates since). Full 29-Skill roster public: the 5 new are Ranching, Hunting, Beastcrafting, Construction, Enchantment; no Township on the roster. Next update is Astrology plus Combat Mastery Guilds. Early Access wording softened to "hopefully some time this year (2026)." Free playtest "may arrive in the form of Steam Next Fest" (Valve dates the October edition Oct 19 to 26, 2026).
• 2026-06-04, initial publish. Release window "2026 Early Access," alpha live on Patreon, 29 Skills with 5 new, Godot rebuild, mobile after Early Access.

A note on who is writing this: we are Manu Games, and we build Tideward, an idle RPG in the same genre. We have kept this piece to public, first-party sources (Steam, the official dev blog, and official social posts), credited Melvor Idle 1's long run and its community-funded development, and flagged everything the developer has not yet confirmed. If anything here is inaccurate, tell us and we will fix it. Melvor Idle is a trademark of Games by Malcs. Tideward is not affiliated with Games by Malcs or Jagex.