[OPINION] Prison Architect 2 Delayed Indefinitely, Paradox Faces More Problems

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Expectations were high, but now another disappointment has arrived. Paradox Interactive has officially announced that Prison Architect 2 has been delayed indefinitely. This decision comes after a series of recent setbacks, including the loss of a significant amount of funding, the delay of the console version of Cities: Skylines 2, and the cancellation of Life by You, a competitor to The Sims.

During this period, Paradox delayed Prison Architect 2 twice, with the most recent delay announced in April. However, the game genuinely seemed to be on track for release on September 4 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Unfortunately, that date is now uncertain.

Paradox explained the reason for the delay in a written blog post on their forum: “We need more time to improve the game’s performance and content. Our internal reviews and beta tests revealed areas that require additional attention, especially in terms of performance and content, to ensure we deliver the best possible experience.”

While they have repeatedly emphasized the need for extra time to fix bugs and improve performance, it raises the question of why earlier release dates were promised if they would end up being postponed anyway. Overall, it’s good to see the publisher wanting to give their “team” more time for a troubled project. For context, the original developer, Double Eleven, stepped away from the project after failing to reach a commercial agreement with Paradox, so giving the new team more time makes sense.

Brazilian co-development team Kokku has taken over Prison Architect 2. Previously, the studio was known for 3D art on Horizon Forbidden West and porting Golf Club Wasteland to various platforms. In other words, we’re talking about a studio that has no real understanding of what fans want from a sequel.

They are not an internal Paradox team, and it’s hard to believe they can recreate the unique charm Double Eleven brought to the original Prison Architect. Of course, it’s possible we’re wrong, but it’s currently frustrating to see a sequel to a game with over 56,000 positive Steam reviews on such a troubled development path.

Paradox says they are “confident the sequel to Prison Architect will be great and look forward to showing all the new ideas being introduced: the transition to 3D, multi-story buildings, and new behavior systems that bring a new dimension to the game and open new gameplay possibilities.” However, they’ve been promising these innovations for months, and so far they’re just words without concrete results.

Paradox Interactive continues to rely heavily on evergreen hits such as Crusader Kings III, Stellaris, and Hearts of Iron IV, while Cities: Skylines is still performing well. However, games like The Lamplighters League, Star Trek: Infinite, and Millennia did not meet expectations.

This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad games, but at launch they received mixed reviews. Some have since improved significantly, while Star Trek remains in poor condition, unfinished and poorly executed. Still, games can always be improved with time, and the only bright spot in this situation is Foundry. Overall, this is another setback for Paradox, who desperately need to turn things around.

Since Paradox Interactive is known for its DLCs, which have recently been underperforming, the question arises whether the company will continue to squeeze money through additional content or refocus on delivering high-quality games. Crusader Kings III DLCs have repeatedly fallen short, and it often feels like we’re being misled with €20 add-ons while mods offer much better solutions. Is it worth investing in their DLCs? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, because it’s hard to imagine playing their games without them.

On the other hand, Victoria III has finally blossomed and earned strong reviews. We can also include Age of Wonders 4, which impressed early on and later improved significantly. As things stand, the best approach is to play Paradox games after a year, once developers have had time to gather player feedback.

Returning to Prison Architect 2: since the delay is indefinite, Paradox is offering refunds for preorders across all platforms. Bonus items included with preorders will be added to the base game, meaning there will be no extra benefits for those who preordered.

We hope the next updates from Paradox Interactive bring a firm release date fans can rely on. For now, players will have to wait patiently and hope the project has a better outcome than the studio’s recent troubled releases. Unfortunately, for now, concern is warranted.