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Prison Architect 2 | Parole Session: Delayed

Hello Architects,

We have made the hard decision of delaying Prison Architect 2 from May 7th to September 3rd.

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While we currently have builds certified on all platforms and are ready to release, some issues regarding memory usage and minimum spec configurations experiencing more failures have emerged. Considering the legacy of Prison Architect, and you - our passionate community, we want to ship the best possible sequel to such a beloved game, without cutting corners to do so.

With the release date getting closer, we carried out further testing on the final build using multiple configurations to verify its stability. These tests result in a MTBF (mean time between failure) report, the method used to get this result is playing the game until a failure arises. A failure can mean a variety of things, for example, a crash, freeze, or other play-halting issues. In this report, we noticed that on specific configurations the game was not hitting our MTBF target, with this being particularly true for minimum specs configurations.

Once the issues were identified, we started working on improving Prison Architect 2’s memory usage to mitigate the situation. Overall, the work has been successful, and we have reached a satisfactory level of performance on lower specs. Unfortunately, with such a rework some new technical challenges emerged, as the number of crashes increased noticeably.

In light of the memory usage issue, and minimum spec configuration failures, we therefore made the decision to postpone the game. This extra development time will make sure we can:
  • Raise the MTBF to make sure the game is more stable.
    • This includes focusing on resolving crashes, freezes, and other play-halting issues.
  • Share more of the development with you, our players, through streams and additional developer diaries.

  • Put more time into further developing some of the existing features that we know can be improved.
    • We’ll be telling you more about this in an upcoming stream on the 25th of April at 16:30 CEST /10:30 EST.

Additionally, console players will receive an automated refund - as per platform policy. Pre-orders will still be available, but you will need to purchase the game again to secure the pre-order bonus. Steam players who wish to refund their game can use the refund option via Customer support.
We know this is a long wait but we’ll be with you all the way to release and we know this will give you a better game experience in the end.

The Prison Architect 2 team

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
✅Join our communities
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It is unfortunate that it cannot be played immediately, but Paradox's policy of not repeating the same mistakes is a welcome one.
 
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I'm glad to see developers moving in this direction lately.

I'm sure it makes the suits in the c-suite grumpy though. Quarterly metrics! Shareholder value! Let's offer a prayer of comfort for them in these trying times.
 
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You will only have one chance to create a first impression. Thank you for dedicating the time and resources necessary to make that impression good and the gaming experience even better
 
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It seems like paradox has shifted back to releasing actual games rather than "whatever pile of code was available on release day".

That makes me happy :)
 
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I am never going to buy this game, but I am still pleased for PA players, because "better late than buggy" is generally the right move and sets a good precedent for other PDX titles.
 
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i agree but i would prefer early access which would helped also Beta testing would be another benift for us to test systems on own computers and report back
that would be ideal


i hope company learns from City skylines 2 problems
 
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ParadoxMichaela said:
Hello Architects,

We have made the hard decision of delaying Prison Architect 2 from May 7th to September 3rd.

View attachment 1119332

While we currently have builds certified on all platforms and are ready to release, some issues regarding memory usage and minimum spec configurations experiencing more failures have emerged. Considering the legacy of Prison Architect, and you - our passionate community, we want to ship the best possible sequel to such a beloved game, without cutting corners to do so.

With the release date getting closer, we carried out further testing on the final build using multiple configurations to verify its stability. These tests result in a MTBF (mean time between failure) report, the method used to get this result is playing the game until a failure arises. A failure can mean a variety of things, for example, a crash, freeze, or other play-halting issues. In this report, we noticed that on specific configurations the game was not hitting our MTBF target, with this being particularly true for minimum specs configurations.

Once the issues were identified, we started working on improving Prison Architect 2’s memory usage to mitigate the situation. Overall, the work has been successful, and we have reached a satisfactory level of performance on lower specs. Unfortunately, with such a rework some new technical challenges emerged, as the number of crashes increased noticeably.

In light of the memory usage issue, and minimum spec configuration failures, we therefore made the decision to postpone the game. This extra development time will make sure we can:
  • Raise the MTBF to make sure the game is more stable.
    • This includes focusing on resolving crashes, freezes, and other play-halting issues.
  • Share more of the development with you, our players, through streams and additional developer diaries.

  • Put more time into further developing some of the existing features that we know can be improved.
    • We’ll be telling you more about this in an upcoming stream on the 25th of April at 16:30 CEST /10:30 EST.

Additionally, console players will receive an automated refund - as per platform policy. Pre-orders will still be available, but you will need to purchase the game again to secure the pre-order bonus. Steam players who wish to refund their game can use the refund option via Customer support.
We know this is a long wait but we’ll be with you all the way to release and we know this will give you a better game experience in the end.

The Prison Architect 2 team

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
✅Join our communities
• Website
• Forum
• YouTube
• TikTok
• X (Formerly Twitter)
• Facebook
• Reddit (Fanrun)
• Discord (Fanrun)
Click to expand...
 
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GOOD.. I rather wait and have good game then rush rush job and game full of bugs like City SKylines 2 ...

Release the game when its good and almost bugfree..
 
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Damn. This game would have been released on my birthday. But I also appreciate the devs taking the time to make an actually great game instead of rushing a buggy mess. Maybe they could also use the time to add some community features that have been requested, like the ones in the forums.
 
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Delay it by another year.

While I applaud your decision not to release it now, it's clearly massively unfinished, and kicking the can slightly down the road isn't going to be enough. I bet you even know this already, but are trying to avoid people cancelling pre-orders by only delaying it 4 months and that you likely have executives & shareholders breathing down your neck screaming about how they can't afford their 2nd yacht and 10th investment property because it wasn't released broken as is to meet their quarterly revenue expectations.

The last thing your customers want is your games to become the next Skylines 2, rushed out for release to meet shareholder demands but with broken gameplay & a litany of technical issues that made it more intensive on PC's than a super high end Triple A FPS with Ray Tracing. Or Victoria 3, which was okay on the technical level but incredibly bland. Or worse, the next Star Trek Infinite, a game so unfinished that it destroyed any chance it had of finding an audience.

Your customers deserve better.

I also worry about the work/life balance of the development team now, will the executives in charge ensure that your dev team aren't going to be forced into an additional massive crunch period, and aren't working 14 hour days 6 or 7 days a week?
 
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It is what i always say: You don't own us anything until the game is out and people are spending their money on it, we can always play other games while we wait!
It is always a good call to delay a release to be able to give us a better product! Thanks and keep up the good work!
 
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JXL23 said:
You will only have one chance to create a first impression. Thank you for dedicating the time and resources necessary to make that impression good and the gaming experience even better
Click to expand...
While I like a game that's stable I hate companies which guarantee a date then, immediately change it a week before it releases. This isn't the first time they've changed it, they created documentation on the game through their media outlets like youtube. To hear that its not finished or they can't guarantee a product on time or that its not optimized for most systems puts really makes me question whether paradox is able to keep promises and deliver a decent game. While I enjoy PA and I really enjoyed Pre-Ordering PA2, I might just refund it. One Pushback is fine after that it makes me angry. Communication needs to be better.

This is an extremely unpopular opinion but, I despise broken guarantee's.
 
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I didn't really buy the "its ready, but needs a touch of polish" kind of message last time and this one just proves it was on track to repeat recent mishaps, but on that note, I'm not being salty, better delayed or potential early access release than a full release and "problems". Good luck, get it right, paying customers will respect it more and if it hits the release date running, it will no doubt be a success, rather than release early and destroy itself.
 
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TodAufDerFlutch said:
While I enjoy PA and I really enjoyed Pre-Ordering PA2, I might just refund it.
Click to expand...

Pre-ordering is one of the major causes of broken unfinished releases, when they already have the money and then have to commit to a release date based on those pre-orders. You're essentially paying for a corporations promise to deliver and they rarely do.

Whereas buying a released finished product, if its good, is reward for making a good / finished product and if they do that, it will pay off.
I realise where I'm posting this :p but still, pre-orders are bad!

Looking forward to see how PA2 turns out, do it proud!
 
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