Kingmakers, the game about bringing modern weapons to medieval battlefields, gets delayed just 5 days ahead of launch, and there's no new release date

The game Kingmakers has been unexpectedly delayed just five days prior to its scheduled early access launch on Steam, with developer Redemption Road citing the need for additional content polish and technical optimization to ensure performance. Critically, no new release date has been provided, a situation that has generated significant negative community reaction and drawn comparisons to previous high-profile game failures, potentially signaling operational challenges and future revenue uncertainty for the title.

Analysis

Kingmakers, the game about bringing modern weapons to medieval battlefields, gets delayed just 5 days ahead of launch, and there's no new release date Well, this is odd. Just five days before it was set to launch into early access on Steam, the medieval-modern combat sim Kingmakers has been delayed—and, somewhat worryingly, it doesn't have a new release target. The delay message focuses primarily on developer Redemption Road's technical ambitions, which are very high: The studio says it "set out to push the Unreal Engine 4 codebase to its absolute limits, while still providing 60fps to midrange PCs, without the need for fake frames." After describing Kingmaker's mix of massive scale and granular physics and reactivity, all of it built around "full drop-in/drop-out four-player multiplayer support," Redemption Road said it needs "a bit more time on content polish before we feel good about charging money for it." "So that is what we're doing now," the studio wrote. "We're making sure everyone who buys the game is enthralled and feels like their money was well spent. We want this to be the case whether you have a top-of-the-line rig or a PC that's seen better days." The delay message makes no mention of a new release target, nor does the Steam page, which now says only that Kingmakers is "coming soon." That feels a little odd for a game that was due to launch in less than a week—typically you can at least spitball how many more weeks or months you'll need when you're this close to the finish line—and it's sparked a certain amount of blowback from some followers, who have accused the game of being a scam of some sort and even made comparisons to infamous survival game flameout The Day Before. Regardless of what's going on here, I don't think it's reasonable to call the game a "scam" when there's been no crowdfunding, preorders, or other exchange of legal tender for lofty promises. It sucks that we have to wait (especially when the game was so close to release) and Kingmakers may ultimately not live up to its promise, but at this point that's really all it is: disappointing and kind of weird. 2025 games: This year's upcoming releases Best PC games: Our all-time favorites Free PC games: Freebie fest Best FPS games: Finest gunplay Best RPGs: Grand adventures Best co-op games: Better together Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. The unexpected and indefinite delay of the game 'Kingmakers' just five days before its scheduled early access launch signals potential operational distress and execution risk at developer Redemption Road. While the studio cites a need for 'content polish' to meet ambitious technical targets, such as 60fps on midrange PCs using Unreal Engine 4, the absence of a new release timeline is a significant red flag. This lack of guidance is highly unusual for a project this close to launch and suggests that the required fixes may be more substantial than stated, creating considerable uncertainty around the product's eventual release and commercial viability. The moderately negative sentiment and community backlash, including comparisons to high-profile failures, threaten to erode pre-launch consumer enthusiasm, which will directly impact initial sales momentum whenever the game does launch. The fact that no pre-orders were taken mitigates immediate financial fallout but also highlights that the project lacks early revenue validation and its development issues remained concealed until the final moment.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Investors in the gaming sector should view last-minute, indefinite product delays as a critical indicator of poor project management or unforeseen technical hurdles, warranting heightened scrutiny of a developer's execution capabilities.
• For private equity or venture capital evaluating game studios, this event underscores the importance of due diligence on development roadmaps and the ability to deliver on technical promises without significant schedule slippage, especially in the final pre-launch phase.
• Potential investors tracking this IP should now monitor for the announcement of a firm, credible new launch date and subsequent gameplay demonstrations, as the developer's ability to manage this crisis and regain consumer trust will be paramount to the title's future revenue potential.