UPDATED: Release aiming for May

[Mister Wekonu]

TLDR: The Future Games Show officially has announced the change to Q2 and devs have internally set a release in May 2025 per Game Director below!

View the presentation here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm5I0BUL7LU

For info on the movie deal with Story Kitchen, check out here[venturebeat.com]

There are monthly NDA playtests you can sign up for here[docs.google.com]

Here's to less than ~9 weeks, kings!

[Chaosolous]

Originally posted by Paul Fisch:

Originally posted by Vivid VIII:

I think the problem with a lot games now days is this stupid anti crunch motto all these gaming companies employ now. Most of us game enthusiast work in jobs were we dont have the luxury to not crunch if we are told or need too. If my boss came up to me and said they need something done and I have to put in 50-70 hours a week to get it done I cant go to him and say I dont believe in working that many hours, I'd be let go. Its a job, do your damn job. These game companies cant crunch for a short period of time release the game and cruise its sad. Bungie made Halo 2 basically all over again in 18 months, is that extreme ya but they had to do it.

Yeah...if you think we're not in crunch constantly then you are mistaken.

Well here's hoping it pays off for you guys and you can find some time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor when all is said and done. It's important in life to find time for yourselves. Crunch can take a lot out of a person.

I'd rather not see people experience the crunch but I get it.

I rarely generalize but I think I can confidently speak for everyone involved in saying that we all; us customers, you developers and the publishers, want to see this game succeed.

Good luck.

[Clonechief]

Originally posted by Paul Fisch:

Originally posted by Vivid VIII:

I think the problem with a lot games now days is this stupid anti crunch motto all these gaming companies employ now. Most of us game enthusiast work in jobs were we dont have the luxury to not crunch if we are told or need too. If my boss came up to me and said they need something done and I have to put in 50-70 hours a week to get it done I cant go to him and say I dont believe in working that many hours, I'd be let go. Its a job, do your damn job. These game companies cant crunch for a short period of time release the game and cruise its sad. Bungie made Halo 2 basically all over again in 18 months, is that extreme ya but they had to do it.

Yeah...if you think we're not in crunch constantly then you are mistaken.

Hey take your time on this game me and a couple others are excited for this game. i'm already planning to buy a few copies. I'm not a programmer or anything close all i can say is that we appreciate all the work you put into this game and we are excited to play it. I am on board with the people saddened about the delay but i understand it's a necessity for this game to be ready for us players. I hope that everyone on the team is doing well and I can't wait for you guys to release a great game. I'm planning to get 3 or 4 copies of the game.

[Faptor]

Awesome :D Ill see you all in May!
If the Kingmakers is even half as fun as the previews and trailers make it seem then this is an easy GOTY. I cant wait!

[Timmy the Dragonborn]

Why delay it again?

[DredSilent]

Originally posted by SynapseLapse:

Originally posted by Paul Fisch:

Yeah...if you think we're not in crunch constantly then you are mistaken.

I think the problem is people being entitled and thinking game devs owe them something special just because the game looks cool.

Please don't burn yourself out for the sake of getting some pixels out "early".
I will get Kingmakers on launch day, and in the meantime I'll replay RR again. Better to let a game be delayed to make it better rather than release a buggy mess before it's ready.

The "Make it Better" mentality is also flawed, hardly any game that has ever had to do this made any difference. Typically this is a way of saying the game isn't finished and they under estimated the timelines and effort needed to finish the game. Just say that.

As someone who also works in the software field.

This boils down typically to one or multiple of the following:
1. Scope Creep
2. Lack of Prioritization (MVP - Minimum Viable Product)
3. Testing/Validation reveals major flaws that need to be addressed
4. Legal Issues

In these smaller game companies, not saying its true for these guy, but I see way to often they like to code refactor, essentially not changing the core behavior but making micro improvements.

[The Oncoming Storm]

Can someone correct me on this, just for my own understanding on game publishing?
Publisher sets a date for a games release based on developers 'best guess'. The interest is grown based on the publisher advertising, doing PA stuff and developers issuing gameoplay footage.
If interest is great, the publishers think 'Hey, this is going to bring in a LOT of money. That means if we gave the devs more money, it could be even better?'
Devs say 'Well, if you want it better, we can definitely do that, but we need more time.'
And then that cycle repeats, eventually publishers say 'We are confident that it will be an amazing game, at release, because the EXPECTED income will be somewhat better than initially anticipated, but we need to get it out now whilst interest is still high, are you able to deliver?' and devs will say 'We are polishing the game off, give us a bit of leeway, we expect to meet our own expectations within a xx month timeframe. Pay us till then' and the publishers weigh up the risk vs reward against releasing a game in a state where the devs say they are working to the wall and may make mistakes due to cutting corners vs a game where it is the developers preferred timeframe means those corners need not be cut, resultign in a well rounded gameplay experience...

TL;dr - How do devs and publishers work out the release dates for games?

[The Oncoming Storm]

Originally posted by DredSilent:

Originally posted by SynapseLapse:

I think the problem is people being entitled and thinking game devs owe them something special just because the game looks cool.

Please don't burn yourself out for the sake of getting some pixels out "early".
I will get Kingmakers on launch day, and in the meantime I'll replay RR again. Better to let a game be delayed to make it better rather than release a buggy mess before it's ready.

The "Make it Better" mentality is also flawed, hardly any game that has ever had to do this made any difference. Typically this is a way of saying the game isn't finished and they under estimated the timelines and effort needed to finish the game. Just say that.

As someone who also works in the software field.

This boils down typically to one or multiple of the following:
1. Scope Creep
2. Lack of Prioritization (MVP - Minimum Viable Product)
3. Testing/Validation reveals major flaws that need to be addressed
4. Legal Issues

In these smaller game companies, not saying its true for these guy, but I see way to often they like to code refactor, essentially not changing the core behavior but making micro improvements.

So, this answered my question actually...! Lol

[Nate]

I've been following this for quite a while now and are really excited to play Kingmakers. I hope this comes out near May sometime, so I can get it for my birthday

[MightyMonte88]

Originally posted by Paul Fisch:

It's very likely that Kingmakers is coming out in Q2. Q1 is basically off the table.

We are all internally aligned on a May EA release date. I'm working on getting the steam page updated to reflect this.

me: * goes back in time once the game releases in Q2, changes history so game did indeed release in Q1*


*plays game next week*

[Chaosolous]

Originally posted by MightyMonte88:

Originally posted by Paul Fisch:

It's very likely that Kingmakers is coming out in Q2. Q1 is basically off the table.

We are all internally aligned on a May EA release date. I'm working on getting the steam page updated to reflect this.

me: * goes back in time once the game releases in Q2, changes history so game did indeed release in Q1*


*plays game next week*

Bro has that beyond space and time hyper drive hype.

[Demi]

I would rather the game be delayed than crunched. Devs need to do some selfcare.

[DEMANATI]

Originally posted by Demi:

I would rather the game be delayed than crunched. Devs need to do some selfcare.

Show me where i said i want the game to be released a buggy rushed mess

[scary jesus]

Originally posted by DEMANATI:

Originally posted by Mister Wekonu:

Since a lot of recent updates and developer comments have been buried in multiple Steam and Discord posts, I thought I'd gather some here for folk until a more formal announcement is shared! :lunar2019piginablanket:

TLDR: release was still aiming for March (Q1) per their contracts, but they are talking internally of pushing to May

They're still hoping to do an open beta test or demo before launch, but there are also monthly NDA playtests you can get into here[docs.google.com]

Here's to less than ~12 weeks, kings! :mug:

Just a handful of citations:
2/24 and 3/3 Director states they are talking of pushing to Q2 and personally guesses release in May here

2/15 Director confirms current contract is Q1 and insinuates it may slip to April or May here as well as here

2/24 Designer confirms still planned for Q1 but clarifying it wont release until it's ready here[discord.com]

3/3 Designer re-affirms they're still hoping to release before April here[discord.com]

"can wait to play it in 2024"
"cant wait to play it q1 2025"
"cant wait to play mid q2 2025"
at this point the release date is just empty words mean to blue ball customers. i got pretty heated last year due to the delay. i still want to play it and i heard its coming out by march (end of q1) and what a shocker, literally same situation as before. no price, no sys req, no solid date. no new trailers

woe is you, oh no! you should be happy it's delayed instead of being released in an unplayable state.

[Jagernaught]

Delays are always Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. If you release when anticipated and its unfinished, people will rightfully complain about you taking their money and giving tripe. If you delay, you get this weird subset of gamers who think you've wronged them by taking away....nothing.....from them.

[DEMANATI]

Originally posted by Jagernaught:

Delays are always Damned if you do, Damned if you don't. If you release when anticipated and its unfinished, people will rightfully complain about you taking their money and giving tripe. If you delay, you get this weird subset of gamers who think you've wronged them by taking away....nothing.....from them.

maybe....work fully on the game and only announce the game once its ready? thats literally the best move and is so simple