Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord was announced way back in 2012, but despite TaleWorlds showing it off at E3 in June and their plans to show off more at Gamescom next week, a release date or window has yet to be announced. And it won’t be announced anytime soon. TaleWorlds explain why in a post on Steam.
Here’s everything we know about Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.
“We have not disclosed a release date so far because it does not exist,” TaleWorlds explain. “We don’t work like that. We are not a company who sets a timeline to release a product and then works to meet that deadline. We are TaleWorlds Entertainment: we create games because we love making them, and we want them to be the best games that we can possibly make. We think that our fans don’t deserve less than our best efforts, our total commitment. We don’t believe in releasing a game before it is ready just because we might miss the hype.”
While TaleWorlds acknowledge that there are other approaches, they also point out that some of the studios that adopt them have publishers, shareholders, and investors who put pressure on them to set an arbitrary date. TaleWorlds don’t.
“We are not in that situation, and creating the best game we possibly can is the most important thing to us,” they continue. “With that in mind, why limit ourselves with a release date if no one is pushing us to do so? And how would setting a date and then pushing it back further and further be better than not giving a date we are not sure about?”
Of course, they do have plenty of prospective players who want to know when they can get the game. And these players might also be worried about the state of development given the lack of a release date. “We have of course made our share of mistakes and false starts which have added to development time, but not more than what could be expected from a project of this scale.”
The length of development is largely down to the size of the game. “Bannerlord has a huge sandbox campaign which contains a number of different features that players can experience and enjoy. This includes, but is not limited to: fief and kingdom management, a deep trading system, a diplomacy and relationship system, and epic battles with hundreds of on-screen combatants that the player can command.” There’s also multiplayer matchmaking, mod support, and an entirely new engine.
So don’t expect a release date announcement soon, but you’ll be able to see more of the game next week at Gamescom.