Kingmakers Indefinitely Delayed Just Before Steam Early Access

Redemption Road has confirmed that Kingmakers, the upcoming large-scale action and strategy sandbox, will not be launching on October 8 as planned. The game, originally set to debut in Steam Early Access, has been delayed indefinitely with no new release window provided.

The studio explained that the decision centers on performance improvements. Kingmakers promises massive medieval battles with thousands of enemies on screen, all powered by Unreal Engine 4. The team emphasized that it aims to deliver stable 60FPS performance even on mid-range PCs without relying on frame generation techniques. By pushing the engine to its technical limits, the developers want to ensure the experience is smooth before players jump in.

Set in medieval England, Kingmakers takes place 500 years in the past, where players attempt to change the course of a bloody war. The hook lies in its mix of traditional medieval combat with modern firepower, letting players wield assault rifles, grenades, and rocket launchers against armored knights and cavalry units. Alongside its action focus, the game also integrates real-time strategy elements, allowing players to command troops, build defenses, and issue battlefield orders while freely switching between soldier and general roles on the fly.

According to the team, each combatant on the battlefield is driven by a next-generation, multi-threaded AI system. This governs decision-making, pathfinding, and loyalty, while a procedural animation system adds nuance to battles. The combination is intended to make encounters feel dynamic and responsive, whether you are in first-person action or top-down strategic control.

Kingmakers’ gameplay loop allows two approaches. Players can take a direct role on the front lines, wielding weapons, driving vehicles, and breaking enemy formations themselves, or zoom out to orchestrate troop maneuvers. Armies feature different unit types such as archers, swordsmen, spearmen, and cavalry, encouraging players to adapt formations and strategies for each battle. Defensive structures like walls and barriers can also be constructed to secure objectives. For those less interested in micromanagement, the advanced AI can step in to handle elements of strategy while players focus on combat.

The last-minute delay has left some fans frustrated, particularly after previous postponements, but Redemption Road has been clear about its reasoning. The studio maintains that optimization is its priority and that rushing the game would compromise its ambitious scale. Community speculation about the project’s legitimacy was also addressed, with reassurances that Kingmakers is not a cash grab.

"Now I know what some will say. ‘This is a scam.’ Well, that’s inaccurate. I mean, you can’t even pre-order it on Steam,"

— wrote John Papadopoulos, clarifying that while delays can be disappointing, the game is not taking money from players ahead of launch.

With no confirmed release date, Kingmakers’ arrival remains uncertain. However, its concept continues to generate interest, with its blend of medieval warfare, modern weaponry, and large-scale AI-driven battles standing out in the crowded sandbox genre. The indefinite delay suggests Redemption Road is unwilling to compromise its vision, even if players have to wait significantly longer before experiencing its chaotic medieval battlefields.