Prison Architect 2 Has Been Delayed Indefintely

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter) to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

It looks like we have a while longer for Prison Architect 2 to grace our presence. I was a big fan of the original Prison Architect back in the day, and I have been looking forward to the sequel ever since it was announced. With an ambitious leap into full 3D with expanded AI and modding capabilities, it has the potential to be fantastic.

Unfortunately, Prison Architect 2 has been delayed again. To make matters worse, the release date is indefinite. In a post by Paradox community manager Michaela on the Paradox forums, she highlighted the difficult decision to postpone Prison Architect, and you can check out the full post here:

Hello Architects,

“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. 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.

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.

With this indefinite delay, preorders on all platforms will be refunded, and the preorder items will be added to the base game.”

Michaela - Paradox Community Manager

Prison Architect 2 has already been delayed once this year, and I am concerned about the decision to push it back from the September launch window like this. Paradox has already axed the now canceled Sims-like game Life By You, and have struggled with major problems with their published games in recent years. While Paradox has pledged to continue working on Prison Architect 2 until they are ready to announce a reliable roadmap, I do not blame people for being concerned.

On a positive note, Paradox has announced that all preorders will be refunded regardless of platform, and all available preorder items will be added to the base game instead.

While these delays are often worrying, they might be a blessing. Hopefully, this gives developers Double Eleven the time they need to get Prison Architect 2 in a good state for a successful launch. For now, we just have to wait and see. I think this is to avoid the disastrous launch of Cities Skylines 2 last year, and if a game needs more time in the oven to cook, I am all for that.

Prison Architect 2 can be wishlisted on Steam. What do you think of the news? Let us know in the comments, and have a great day!

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!