IGN kicked off December 2025 with High on Life 2 as their IGN First cover game, dropping 10 minutes of exclusive early campaign gameplay from Pinkline Harbor. The footage showcases the sequel’s biggest additions – skateboarding mechanics that let you grind rails and chain tricks while shooting alien weapons, expanded hub worlds with denser NPC populations, and new talking guns voiced by comedians like JB Smoove from Curb Your Enthusiasm. High on Life 2 launches February 13, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S as a day-one Game Pass title. The sequel doubles down on everything that made the 2022 original one of Game Pass’s biggest launches, but with one massive change – Justin Roiland is completely gone following his departure from Squanch Games.
Skateboarding Changes Everything
The most immediately noticeable addition in the IGN gameplay is skateboarding. This isn’t just cosmetic movement flavor – it’s a full traversal system that fundamentally changes how you navigate levels and engage in combat. You can grind rails while shooting enemies, launch off ramps to reach elevated platforms, chain tricks for momentum boosts, and perform wall runs or mid-air grapples while maintaining speed.
This transforms High on Life 2 from a relatively traditional first-person shooter with platforming into something closer to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater meets Sunset Overdrive. The momentum-based traversal rewards skillful movement, letting you maintain flow through combat encounters by grinding around arenas while your talking guns provide commentary on your sick tricks. Miss a grind or botch a landing, and you lose momentum, forcing you to slowly build speed back up.
The skateboarding integrates with the game’s verticality in ways the original couldn’t support. Pinkline Harbor showcases multi-level environments connected by grind rails, ramps, and wall-run surfaces. You can approach combat encounters from multiple angles – drop in from above after skating across rooftops, grind around the perimeter while picking off enemies, or ditch the board entirely and fight traditionally. This flexibility addresses criticism that the first game’s combat felt repetitive despite the creative weapon abilities.
Pinkline Harbor and Hub Worlds
The exclusive footage takes place in Pinkline Harbor, described as one of three major hub worlds you’ll explore throughout the campaign. These hubs are significantly larger and denser than the original game’s relatively linear levels. Pinkline Harbor features a neon-soaked aesthetic with bizarre alien NPCs, shops, side contracts, and optional activities scattered throughout.
The hub structure creates a more open experience compared to High on Life’s mission-select format. Instead of choosing bounties from a menu and teleporting to isolated levels, you explore interconnected zones where main story missions, side content, and exploration blend together. This approach mirrors modern immersive sims and open-world shooters rather than pure arcade-style level progressions.
Environmental reactivity also improves. The August 2025 gameplay demo mentioned that worlds dynamically shift based on your actions and weapon choices. If you complete certain missions or use specific guns, NPCs comment on it, environments change to reflect your impact, and new opportunities appear. This reactive design aims to make the sequel feel less like a series of isolated levels and more like a living galaxy responding to your choices.
Three Hub Worlds
Pinkline Harbor is just one of three confirmed hubs. The others haven’t been fully revealed, but based on existing footage, expect variety in tone and aesthetics. One appears to be a decrepit space colony with industrial ruins, while another showcases bio-engineered jungles filled with hostile flora and fauna. Each hub will presumably have unique traversal challenges, enemy types, and visual identities that differentiate them beyond just palette swaps.
New and Returning Talking Guns
High on Life’s signature gimmick – living alien weapons called Gatlons that constantly comment on everything – returns with an expanded roster. JB Smoove voices one of the new guns, bringing his improvisational comedy style from Curb Your Enthusiasm to the alien weaponry lineup. Other confirmed voice actors include Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones) as Sheath and Michael Cusack returning as Knifey.
The Gatlons now feature progression systems where they evolve into new combat forms or merge their powers for combo attacks. This addresses a common complaint that the original game’s weapons felt static – once you unlocked a gun’s abilities, it remained functionally identical for the rest of the game. High on Life 2 adds RPG-style weapon evolution where your choices affect how guns develop, creating build variety.
Importantly, Justin Roiland – the co-creator of Rick and Morty who voiced multiple characters in the original including the protagonist’s main gun Kenny – is completely absent. Squanch Games parted ways with Roiland in 2023 following domestic abuse allegations and his departure from Rick and Morty. The sequel replaces his performances with new voice actors, fundamentally changing the game’s comedic tone.
Less Roiland, Better Game?
Reddit discussions about the new gameplay reveal mixed feelings about Roiland’s absence. Some players found his improvisational rambling exhausting in the original – endless tangents, repeated jokes, and that distinctive vocal fry became grating over a 10-hour campaign. One commenter stated “I think this has a chance to be way better than the first, the shooter gameplay was solid but the Justin Roiland-ness of it was waaaaaaaaay too much.”
Others worry that removing Roiland eliminates the specific comedic identity that made High on Life stand out. Like him or not, his voice and improvisational style were synonymous with the game’s humor. Replacing him with more traditional voice actors risks creating generic sci-fi comedy that lacks the original’s divisive but memorable personality. Whether that’s a feature or a bug depends entirely on how much you enjoyed Roiland’s humor in the first place.
Squanch Games brought in new writers alongside the voice talent changes, suggesting they’re deliberately pivoting the sequel’s tone. Expect more structured jokes with better pacing rather than stream-of-consciousness rambling. Whether this makes High on Life 2 funnier or just more conventional won’t be clear until players experience full playthroughs.
Story – Conspiracy Threatens Humanity Again
The campaign picks up after the first game’s ending where you took down the G3 Cartel and saved humanity from being turned into drugs. You’ve become a famous bounty hunter living comfortably off your reputation. But when a mysterious figure from your past puts a price on your sister’s head, you’re dragged back into intergalactic chaos involving an evil pharmaceutical conglomerate called Humanzapro.
The Humanzapro storyline provides satirical commentary on pharmaceutical corporations, healthcare profiteering, and commodification of human life. Based on the in-universe ads IGN released before the gameplay, Humanzapro markets humans as products while presenting themselves as benevolent benefactors. This darkly comic premise lets Squanch Games lampoon real-world pharmaceutical industry practices through absurdist sci-fi satire.
The sister-in-danger plot provides personal stakes lacking in the original, where you were just a random human swept into bounty hunting. Having an actual character you care about threatened creates emotional investment beyond just “kill the bad guys because they’re bad.” Whether the writing can balance irreverent comedy with genuine character moments remains to be seen – High on Life mostly avoided sentimentality, but the sequel might need some to justify its more ambitious scope.
Gameplay Improvements and Features
Co-Op Multiplayer
High on Life 2 introduces two-player online co-op, letting you tackle bounties with a friend while maintaining the comedic banter. This is a massive addition given the original was strictly single-player. Co-op creates new design challenges – how do you balance encounters for two players? How do you handle cutscenes and dialogue? Does everyone hear the same gun commentary, or do weapons adjust based on player count?
The implementation details remain vague, but expect drop-in/drop-out functionality similar to Borderlands or Dying Light. One player hosts the campaign, and a second can join for missions then leave without disrupting progress. Cross-save support confirms you can switch between platforms without losing your progress, suggesting the co-op experience is designed for flexibility rather than rigid commitment.
Visual Upgrades
The sequel runs on a heavily upgraded proprietary engine supporting 4K resolution, ray-traced lighting, HDR, and improved character animation. The visual jump from the original is immediately noticeable in the IGN footage – Pinkline Harbor looks stunning with neon reflections, detailed alien architecture, and dynamic lighting that creates atmosphere the first game’s simpler rendering couldn’t achieve.
Performance modes target up to 120 FPS on current-gen consoles, crucial for a game emphasizing fast movement and skateboarding momentum. The first High on Life ran at 60 FPS on Xbox Series X but had occasional drops during intense combat. Doubling the frame rate while adding more complex environments and particle effects suggests significant optimization work.
Release Date and Platforms
High on Life 2 launches February 13, 2026, on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. This represents a delay from the originally announced “winter 2025” window. The August 2025 announcement trailer teased a holiday 2025 release, but developers needed extra time for polish. Given the game’s scope increase and the complexity of adding co-op, skateboarding, and hub worlds, a few-month delay seems reasonable.
Day-one Game Pass availability continues the first game’s tradition. High on Life was one of 2022’s biggest Game Pass launches with millions of players trying it immediately thanks to subscription access. This strategy prioritizes player count over direct sales, betting that exposure and word-of-mouth from Game Pass subscribers generates more long-term value than traditional launches.
IGN First – A Month of Coverage
The December 2 gameplay drop is just the beginning of IGN’s exclusive coverage. Throughout December 2025, expect more gameplay footage, new weapon reveals, developer interviews explaining design decisions, and a hands-on preview from journalists who’ve played recent builds. This month-long marketing push aims to build hype leading into the February 13 launch.
The IGN First program typically indicates strong publisher confidence. Companies don’t commit to month-long exclusive partnerships unless they believe their game can sustain interest through repeated reveals. This suggests Squanch Games and their publisher are confident High on Life 2 has enough depth and variety to generate consistent positive coverage rather than one reveal followed by radio silence.
FAQs
When does High on Life 2 release?
February 13, 2026, on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s a day-one Game Pass title, meaning subscribers can play it at launch at no additional cost.
What’s new in High on Life 2?
Skateboarding traversal mechanics, three large hub worlds, two-player online co-op, weapon evolution systems, new voice actors including JB Smoove, improved graphics with ray tracing, and a pharmaceutical conspiracy storyline.
Is Justin Roiland in the sequel?
No. Roiland left Squanch Games in 2023 following legal issues and his departure from Rick and Morty. New voice actors replace his performances, and new writers adjust the game’s comedic tone.
Does High on Life 2 have multiplayer?
Yes, two-player online co-op lets you tackle bounties with a friend. The game supports cross-save, letting you switch between platforms without losing progress.
What are the hub worlds?
Three large interconnected zones including Pinkline Harbor (neon-soaked alien city), a decrepit space colony, and bio-engineered jungles. Hubs feature side content, exploration, and dynamically reactive environments.
Who voices the new guns?
JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm) voices one new weapon, Ralph Ineson (The Witch) voices Sheath, and Michael Cusack returns as Knifey. More voice actors will be revealed throughout December.
Will skateboarding be mandatory?
Not confirmed, but it appears integrated into level design for optimal traversal. You can likely play without skating, but you’ll miss momentum-based shortcuts and combat advantages.
What is the story about?
After becoming a famous bounty hunter, a mysterious figure puts a price on your sister’s head, dragging you into a conspiracy involving Humanzapro, an evil pharmaceutical conglomerate commodifying human life.
Was the game delayed?
Yes, from winter 2025 to February 13, 2026. The delay provides extra development time for polish given the scope increase with co-op, skateboarding, and expanded hub worlds.
Conclusion
High on Life 2 represents Squanch Games’ bet that doubling down on scope and mechanics while completely replacing Justin Roiland can create a superior sequel to their 2022 breakout hit. The skateboarding traversal looks genuinely fun rather than gimmicky, hub worlds provide structure missing from the original’s level-select format, and co-op multiplayer addresses the first game’s strictly solo experience. Whether the new voice cast can maintain comedic identity without Roiland’s divisive but distinctive style remains the biggest question mark. For players exhausted by his rambling humor, this is great news – expect tighter writing and better pacing. For fans who loved that chaotic energy, the sequel might feel safer and more conventional. Either way, IGN’s month-long exclusive coverage through December 2025 will reveal whether High on Life 2 evolves into something better or just bigger. Check back throughout the month for weapon reveals, developer interviews, and hands-on previews before the February 13, 2026 launch on Game Pass, PlayStation, and PC.