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

Put down your mortar and pestle, my herb-smushing friend. The peasant-squashing RPG antics of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 won’t be coming this year after all, developers Warhorse said in a video message to fans. “We were aiming for the end of the year, and we almost made it,” PR man Tobi Stolz-Zwilling said. “Almost is not good enough, so unfortunately we’ve slipped to 2025.” But hey, it’s easy to get bogged down in the dark ages. There was mud everywhere.

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

James: That’s not it, my apologies.

Ah, dear. How are we supposed to know what this sequel will look like? Well, the lengthy reveal trailer shown earlier this year gives us some clues. It will continue the story of peasant-born adventurer Henry, set largely in the Czech town of Kuttenberg. Developers Warhorse seem to feel that their corporate story mirrors that of their rags-to-rapers hero, citing their growth from a small studio of 11 people to a large corporation with 250 employees. In other words, the game is probably going to be glossier.

We can also consider the first game. That was also delayed, just so you know. And it turned out to be a pretty good mix of interesting features and grounded quests. Reading was a skill you had to learn. You could save your game by getting slightly drunk. And NPC guards would stop you to check your pockets if you consistently misbehaved.

“Warhorse’s debut RPG shines most when its quest design really taps into the idiosyncrasies of its era, not completely sweeping you off your feet but certainly not holding your hand,” Edwin said in our review. But he also pointed to some “annoyingly macho elements” and a loose bugginess that plagued the game. As for the game’s emphasis on historical accuracy, lead developer Daniel Vávra was criticized for stoking GamerGate with some questionable comments, and later apologized. This somewhat soured the game’s reception in many quarters.

As the days pass until release, we’ll learn more about the sequel, whether it’s on James’ schedule or not.