You are looking for a date on Cuphead 2 and on the hand-drawn run and guns around it. Here is the honest state of the board on 12 September 2026: the sequel is real, officially confirmed, and completely undated. Studio MDHR announced it at Summer Game Fest on 5 June 2026 alongside a second project, Mighty Cuphead Adventure, which is also undated.
Everything else in this genre splits into two piles. Two games you can buy and run tonight, and a handful of announcements with nothing behind them yet. I keep this board dated because a rumour window costs you more than an empty cell does — if a game has no date, the useful thing to tell you is that it has no date.
The Cuphead sequel is confirmed and carries no date
Studio MDHR confirmed a mainline Cuphead sequel on 5 June 2026, on the Summer Game Fest stage. It showed a stop-motion teaser rather than gameplay, and described the project as being in its earliest stages of development.
What you actually got
- Confirmed: the game exists, it is hand-animated, it is a mainline sequel.
- Announced only: a "fresh adventure" for the characters. No structure detailed.
- Unknown: title, platforms, window, price. "Cuphead 2" is a nickname, not a name.
I watched that stream live and scrubbed back through the teaser twice looking for a date card at the end. There is none. Anyone handing you a 2027 window for this game is guessing, and you should read it that way.
Your realistic expectation: Cuphead itself took years past its first showing, and The Delicious Last Course slipped repeatedly before landing on 30 June 2022. Nothing about the June announcement suggests a faster cycle.
Two hand-drawn run and guns are playable, the rest are announcements
One release date in this genre is confirmed, and it is behind us: Mouse: P.I. For Hire, 16 April 2026. Everything else on the board is announced, teased or delayed.
Three projects are real but undated: the Cuphead sequel, Mighty Cuphead Adventure, and SNK's untitled Metal Slug entry teased for the series' 30th anniversary on 20 April 2026.
Two are playable now: Mouse, and Enchanted Portals, out since 6 September 2023 on PC and consoles. If you want something running tonight instead of a wishlist entry, that is the entire list.
Mighty Cuphead Adventure is 8-bit, not hand-drawn
The second Studio MDHR announcement is not the hand-drawn game you came here for. Mighty Cuphead Adventure is an 8-bit side-scrolling platformer with pixel art, written in Assembly and built to Sega Master System specifications.
Where it runs, and when
- Platforms announced: Sega Master System, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Windows.
- Date: unknown. Announced 5 June 2026, no window given.
- Structure: longer platforming levels, not the boss-rush spine of Cuphead.
A Master System cartridge in 2026 is the headline, and it is also the reason this one may land before the sequel: the technical ceiling is a 1986 console, not a room of animators. That is reasoning, not a date — I am not putting one on it.
Discover Mighty Cuphead Adventure — Studio MDHR page
No date announced yet. The studio page is where the sequel's title and window will appear first — there is no store listing for it.
Open the Studio MDHR official page →Mouse: P.I. For Hire is the one that already shipped
Released 16 April 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC, Fumi Games' rubber-hose shooter is the closest thing to a Cuphead cousin you can buy today. It is a first-person shooter, not a run and gun — but the animation is drawn frame by frame in 1930s black and white.
I bought it on Steam on launch day and finished it that same week. The art holds up in motion far better than trailers suggest; the shooting is closer to a boomer shooter than to a boss rush.
The dates that matter on it
- 16 April 2026: current-gen launch, after two delays.
- 13 July 2026: publisher PlaySide announced one million players across platforms.
- PS4, Xbox One and original Switch: announced, then pulled from the launch. Still undated.
If you own a base Switch, this one is not for you yet. No window has been given for that version.
The next hand-drawn run and gun dates likely to land
Metal Slug is the board's most probable next date. SNK opened a 30th-anniversary project on 20 April 2026, teasing a new mainline entry plus Metal Slug Rush, a licensed mobile title from RingGames. Neither has a date or confirmed platforms.
Tiebreakers is the newcomer to watch, announced 27 May 2026 for PC via Steam: a sports-themed "shonen run 'n' gun" with hand-drawn 2D animation and parry-based boss fights. Release date: TBA. There is a store page, which is where a date usually appears first.
Two reserves, and their way out
- A wishlist is not a date. Steam pages exist months before windows. Follow the studio, not the genre — MDHR, SNK and Tiecorp are the three accounts that will publish these dates.
- Machine worries can wait. None of these are demanding; the base Switch and Steam Deck questions are handled in our setup piece, not here. Pick the game first.
Hand-drawn run and gun board, updated 12 September 2026. Sources: Summer Game Fest (5 June 2026), SNK 30th-anniversary project (20 April 2026), Gematsu (27 May 2026), PlaySide (13 July 2026).
| Game | Status | Date | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Untitled Cuphead sequel | Announced, earliest stages | Unknown | Unannounced |
| Mighty Cuphead Adventure | Announced | Unknown | Master System, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC |
| Mouse: P.I. For Hire | Released | 16 April 2026 | PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PC |
| Mouse — last-gen versions | Pulled from launch | Unknown | PS4, Xbox One, Switch |
| Metal Slug (untitled, 30th) | Teased | Unknown | Unannounced |
| Metal Slug Rush | Announced | Unknown | Mobile |
| Tiebreakers | Announced | TBA | PC (Steam) |
| Enchanted Portals | Released | 6 September 2023 | PC, consoles |
Read next
- Games similar to Cuphead: boss rush, run and gun, cartoon — The pillar: the full overview of the genre for readers who want the wide view rather than the calendar.
- Like Cuphead but less punishing: Blazing Chrome, Furi, Celeste — Readers waiting on an undated sequel need something to play now that is not brutal.
- Cuphead-likes on Switch, Steam Deck and a small PC — The hardware bridge: which of these run on a base Switch or a Deck, since Mouse skipped last-gen.
- Cuphead-likes for two on the same couch — Cuphead's local co-op is the reason many readers are waiting for the sequel.
- Upcoming free PC games: confirmed dates and F2P switches — Same category, same job: dated releases with their status qualified.