Deltarune Chapter 5 is still "several months" away, admits Undertale mastermind Toby Fox – but "progress is going excellently"

Undertale and Deltarune creator Toby Fox previously said he doesn't think the latter game's Chapter 5 "will be released in the first half of 2026" – and that's looking very possible now, as he reveals the next part still has quite some time ahead of its launch.

Speaking in a recent winter newsletter, Fox first shares a new video from the fifth chapter's Castle Town. It's what comes after the clip that's grabbed my attention, however – an entire status update on Chapter 5. In it, he exclaims, "Progress is going excellently! We have begun the localization process! We extracted the text from the game… 8-4, and I annotated all of the text with notes for the translator." He doesn't stop there, though.

"After localization reaches its final stages, we will begin testing with a professional testing team," continues Fox. "We also need to examine how the game operates on consoles. We will start considering that in January." That's when he gives his "realistic estimate" on when the next Deltarune chapter might release: "If I had to give a realistic estimate, I believe that it will take several months to release the game from where we are now."

Fox then makes a good point. "It feels crazy to say this even though only 6 months ago you guys only had Chapters 1 and 2, but in a few months, much of the team will probably already be focusing their attention on Chapter 6…" And, yes, not only is Chapter 5 on the developer's mind – apparently, the elusive Chapter 6 is, too. He concludes the next part of the game's update with "a few more details," in Fox's own words.

"All the rooms in the game are more or less done, minus polish to the backgrounds. Almost all the scenes in the game are complete. A single digit amount of them need visual polish. Most of the battles in the game are done, except for a couple. These unfinished battles function from beginning to end, but need adjustments to their pacing and bullet patterns to be considered complete. The game contains hours of fun!"

Hours of fun, you say? I know it feels like we only just recently got Chapter 3 and 4 and the Nintendo Switch 2 content – but, hey, I'm certainly not complaining. Here's hoping Chapter 5 comes sooner rather than later. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Toby Fox teaches translators the meaning of "caked up" in Deltarune Chapter 5 tease as we eagerly await our big booty worm