A
mere
month
ahead
of
its
release,
Prison
Architect
2
has
been
indefinitely
delayed,
publisher
Paradox
Entertainment
has
announced.

This
marks
the
third
delay
the
game
has
suffered
this
year.
It
was
originally
marked
for
a
PS5,
Xbox
Series
S/X
and
PC
launch
on
March
26,
but
was
pushed
back
until
May
7th,
and
then
again
until
September
3rd.

This
time
though,
no
new
launch
date
has
been
revealed
for
the
sequel
to
2015’s
Prison
Architect.

Back
in
May
of
this
year,
it
was
revealed
that
Prison
Architect
and
Prison
Architect
2
developer
Double
Eleven
and
Paradox
had
parted
ways
due
to
not
being
able
to
“find
a
commercial
agreement
that
worked
for
both
parties
moving
forward.”

Prison
Architect
2
was
therefore

fully
handed
over
to
Kokku,
a
Brazilian
studio
that
had
actually
been
working
with
Double
Eleven
on
the
game
since
Autumn
2023.

“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,”

said
Kokku
on
a
Paradox
forums
post.
“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.”

According
to
the
team,
communication
will
be
limited
until
they
have
a
timeline
they
feel
“comfortable
with.”

In
a
brief
Q&A
below
the
announcement,
the
team
confirmed
that
all
existing
pre-orders
for
the
game
will
be
cancelled
and
refunded
in
the
next
few
weeks,
and
that
all
pre-order
bonuses
will
not
be
put
into
the
game
for
everyone
to
enjoy.

With
the
original
developer
leaving
some
close
to
the
game’s
launch
and
now
an
indefinite
delay,
there’s
a
grim
feeling
surrounding
Prison
Architect’s
future.
But
Kakku
is
eager
to
assuage
fears,
stating
that;

“No,
the
game
is
not
canceled.
We
are
confident
in
the
game
but
we
want
to
raise
the
quality
before
release,
mainly
the
performance.”

It’s
another
blow
for
Paradox
which
has
struggled
over
the
last
couple
of
years.

Earlier
this
year,
Life
by
You was
delayed
two
weeks
before
its
planned
Early
Access
release
with
Paradox
citing
“additional
development
time”
being
needed.
Not
long
after
that,
the
game
was
cancelled
entirely
and
the
24-person
studio
developing
it
shut
down.

Last
year
in
October,
Paradox
oversaw
a
disastrous
launch
of
Cities
Skylines
2
which
was
plagued
by
performance
issues.
Even
now
the
game
still
has

massive
problems
resulting
in
a
“mixed”
rating
on
Steam.
Paradox
will
undoubtedly
be
looking
to
ensure
it
doesn’t
have
to
suffer
through
this
kind
of
damage
to
its
reputation
again.

On
top
of
all
that,
Paradox
parted
ways
with
the
developers
of
Lamplighters
League
after
it
underperformed,
and
the
development
of
Bloodlines
2
has
been
a
well-documented
mess
thus
far.
The
result
of
all
this
chaos
is
a
massive
drop
of
90%
in
operating
profits
for
Paradox,
much
of
which
can
be
attributed
to
the
cancellation
of
Life
by
You.