Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 delays its medieval RPG hustling until early next year

Put your mortar and pestle down, my herb-smooshing friend. The peasant-quelling RPG antics of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 won't be releasing this year after all, say developers Warhorse in a video message to fans. "We aimed for the end of the year, and almost made it," said PR man Tobi Stolz-Zwilling. "Almost is not good enough though, so unfortunately we slipped to 2025." Never mind, it's easy to slip in the medieval era. There was mud everywhere.

They do now have a firmer release date for the game though, as opposed to a vague "2024". It'll be out on February 11th, they say. There's also talk of upcoming previews and a presence at Gamescom. Oh, hey! We'll be at Gamescom! James? JAMES. Is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 on your itinerary for Gamescom?

James: It is not, apologies.

Ah, jeez. How are we going to know what this sequel will be like? Well, the lengthy reveal trailer shown earlier this year gives us some clues. It'll continue the story of peasant-born adventurer Henry, and be set mostly in the Czech city of Kuttenberg. Developers Warhorse seem to feel their story as a business matches that of its rags-to-rapiers hero, citing their growth from a small studio of 11 people to a big company of 250 employees. It other words, the game will probably be shinier.

We can also consider the first game. It was also delayed, just so you know. And it turned out to be a mostly okay mix of interesting features and grounded questing. Reading was a skill you had to learn. You could save your game by getting mildly drunk. And NPC guards would stop you to check your pockets if you were consistently misbehaving.

"Warhorse's debut RPG shines brightest when the quest design really digs into the peculiarities of its era, not quite cutting you adrift, but certainly not holding your hand," said Edwin in our review. But he also pointed out some "tedious macho elements" and a loose bugginess that plagued the game. Concerning the emphasis on historical accuracy which the game strove for, lead developer Daniel Vávra was criticised for fuelling gamergate with some questionable remarks, and later apologised for that. This somewhat soured the game's reception in many quarters.

We'll know more about the sequel as the days pass until its release, whether it's on James' itinerary or not.