Prison Architect 2 has been delayed once again. The upcoming jail sim sequel will now arrive this autumn, following the discovery of “unexpected issues occurring too often”.
Originally due to arrive in March this year, and then later pushed back to May, Prison Architect 2 will now arrive on 3rd September.
The game’s publisher Paradox Interactive said in a statement today it had noted issues related to memory usage were impacting the stability of the game. Despite having a version of Prison Architect 2 ready to go on all platforms, it has opted to delay the game now to ensure it arrives in the best possible state.
“Recently, we ran some stability tests on our latest version of the game and noticed unexpected issues occurring too often, especially on low specs configurations,” Paradox said in a statement passed to Eurogamer. “Once we identified the issue, we started working on improving Prison Architect 2’s memory usage to mitigate the situation. Overall, the work has been successful, and we have seen improvements on lower-spec machines and consoles.
“Unfortunately, with such a rework some new technical challenges emerged, as the amount of crashes increased noticeably on other PC configurations. We immediately started tackling them, but this took away time from our main goal during this last phase of development, as we had to move resources from polishing the game to addressing the crashes.
“While we currently have a version of the game certified on all platforms and are ready to release, this new memory usage system will significantly improve the game experience,” Paradox concluded. “Considering the legacy of Prison Architect and the passionate community behind it, we want to ship the best possible sequel to such a loved game, and we do not want to cut corners.”
The news comes just a day after Paradox issued a stark apology for the state in which it launched Cities Skylines 2 last year, and for the more recent launch of DLC despite the base game still needing work.
In an eye-opening statement, Paradox said it would refund DLC purchases and postpone the development of any further paid packs for the game until 2025, while work to salvage Cities Skylines 2 continues.
Prison Architect 2 has been rebuilt from the ground up as a 3D experience, unlocking the ability to build across multiple floors in a sandboxy environment with ease. It also features a connection system, which will impact who your inmates consider, well, mates – who they hang out with and who their enemies are.
The original Prison Architect launched back in 2015 and was a critical and commercial success, spawning numerous expansions. “Emerging from Early Access lean and focused, Prison Architect is one of the best management games in a long time,” Paul Dean wrote in Eurogamer’s Prison Architect review.