Ratatan, the spiritual successor to Pataopon, finally gets a release date

The spiritual successor to the highly praised Patapon series, Ratatan, has finally received a new early access release date after being delayed. Ratatan, developed by Ratata Arts and TVT Co. Ltd, is now slated to launch in Early Access on Steam on Friday, September 19, 2025, at 11 am ET, 8 am PT, 4 pm BST, and 12 am JST.

Ratatan was originally planned for a July 25, 2025, release, but was subsequently postponed due to fine-tuning and polishing concerns as announced by the developers last month. Ratatan initially garnered significant traction via its Kickstarter campaign, becoming the most-funded video game project of 2023. 

Ratatan hit its initial target of ¥20 million or $137,000 of funding within the first hour of the campaign’s launch. The Kickstarter campaign ultimately raised 10x the initial amount, totaling ¥219,314,335 or almost $1.5 million from 14,598 individual backers.

The monumental levels of support from the gaming community allowed Ratata Arts to achieve numerous stretch goals, including the development of a console version and collaboration with former Rare composer David Wise, who is renowned for his work on Donkey Kong Country’s soundtrack.

Ratatan received the top honor at Japan’s biggest indie game festival, BitSummit, last month. The game received the Vermillion Gate Award. BitSummit’s founder and judging committee head, James Mielke, commented on the indie game:

“Ratatan revives the indie spirit once present in Patapon, combining roguelike and rhythm elements with notable polish, and shows clear potential for a lasting influence in the indie space.”

The game will feature online co-op for up to four players and encounters with over 100 characters in massive melee combat scenarios, all in sync with a catchy soundtrack. Players will start the game on the island of Rataport, where creatures called Ratatan set out on a journey to The Everafter to meet The Goddess. 

According to Ratatan’s description:

“Recruit allies and dance your way to victory, march across the world of Redo, build your Cobun army, and combine forces with your closest friends to defeat any evildoers silly enough to stand in your way.”

With Ratatan’s Early Access now in play, Ratata Arts has also announced a livestream scheduled for September 14, 2025, hosted by voice actor Tomokazu Sugita on the AGRS YouTube channel.