Released January 29, 2026 on PS5 And PCthe climber Cairn of The Game Bakers quickly found its audience. Ultra physical climbing, tension, mountain atmosphere: the game has a Metascore of 85 and more than 500,000 sales in three months.
With a laudatory French and international press, many already see it as a serious candidate for GOTY 2026. Good news for those who haven’t climbed enough: the studio has just announced On the Trail: Deep Watera first completely free surprise DLC expected this summer.
Cairn on PS5 and PC: how this survival climber rose to GOTY 2026
In Cairnwe play Aava, a mountaineer determined to conquer Mount Kami alone. Each movement consumes endurance, the weight of the bag affects balance and the slightest mistake can result in a fatal fall. Result: a systemic and understandable escalation, as demanding as it is exhilarating.
The critics were not mistaken. Hobby Consolas gave it an 88 out of 100, calling it “one of the best games of 2026”, and the Metascore of 85 confirms the trend. With its sales, Cairn logically stands out as a contender for GOTY on PS5 And PC.
On the Trail: Deep Water: what does this first free DLC from Cairn really contain?
Revealed during the Triple i Initiative 2026, On the Trail: Deep Water opens the series of free DLC On the Trail. “On the Trail is a series of free DLCs bringing you new climbing spots and challenges,” explains The Game Bakers in a message cited by Gamingbible.
This first episode adds three terrains: the Haken and Ruka cliffs above the water, plus a bouldering gymnasium named Lamu. The studio promises “new climbing spots, fresh problems, but doesn’t change what made Cairn so special”: more routes to decode, without betraying the formula.
Great new feature, water soloing transposes real deep water soloing: free climbing above the water, where the fall ends in the pool. In CairnHaken and Ruka become laboratories for risky moves, while Free Roam mode and playable Marco provide a training ground.
Deep Water is arriving this summer on PS5 and PC: why we will have to relaunch Cairn
On the Trail: Deep Water is expected for summer 2026 on PS5 And PCvia Steam and GOG, without specific date. The DLC will be completely free for owners of the base game, a particularly rapid timing which arrives barely a few months after the release of Cairn.
For climbers already at the summit of Kami, this content serves as a natural endgame, between new challenges, less punishing water soloing and long Free Roam sessions. For those who were still hesitant, the promise of a series of free DLCs clearly establishes Cairn as a very solid purchase on PS5 And PC in 2026.