Prison Architect 2 delayed indefinitely

The Prison Architect 2 release planned for September 3, 2024, has been canceled and the game has been delayed indefinitely by publisher Paradox Interactive. All pre-orders for the game will be refunded and pre-order bonuses will be rolled into the standard version of the title come launch. Paradox emphasized that development of Prison Architect 2 has not stopped and the game will not be canceled.

“We have some difficult news to share: unfortunately, we will not release Prison Architect 2 on September 3rd because we need more time to improve both the game's performance and its content,” a statement by the company said. “Our continuous internal reviews and beta test groups have highlighted areas that we need to focus on more, mainly performance and content, which we need to address before launch to ensure that you, the players, get a good experience in the game. We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we'd like to achieve with this sequel.”

The sequel to Double Eleven’s successful prison management sim brings a new 3D artstyle to the table and was originally scheduled for a March 2024 release before a delay to September, which came alongside a switch to a new main developer in the form of Kokku.

“We want to make sure the game lives up to the franchise’s legacy and is released in a state that satisfies both you, our players, and the Prison Architect 2 teams at Kokku and Paradox Interactive,” the statement went on. “At this stage, we can’t commit to a new release date as we need to re-assess the scope of the work needed to be done before the game is release-ready. Over the next few months, we will focus on improving the game and building a more robust release timeline. This also means we will be limiting our communication with you all until we have a timeline we feel comfortable with.”

Paradox recently published a disappointing financial report, in which its CEO admitted that the company had made some “wrong calls” in regards to its selection of projects – among them its planned Sims-competitor Life by You, which was delayed indefinitely and then canceled, with the studio that had been working on it being shut down. In the document, Paradox committed to a better quality control process to ensure its high standards are kept in the future.

“This decision aligns with our commitment here at Paradox to reviewing and improving the quality of our released content,” the delay announcement added. “We are confident that delaying Prison Architect 2 is the best path forward for the game, allowing us more time to deliver a high-quality experience that honors the legacy of Prison Architect.”