It’s been 12 years since the original Mount & Blade launched on PC and many worried its prequel would never come to fruition. Leaks in the past several days rekindled hope that Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord’s release was approaching. Those leaks have now been confirmed, with Mount & Blade 2 coming to Early Access on March 31.
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A PC Gamer article was reportedly published recently which broke Mount & Blade 2’s release date announcement embargo. The article was quickly pulled offline, but not before the release date was widely shared online. Whether because the embargo ended not too long after or because it was canceled, the official release date came out soon thereafter. Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord’s Steam page was updated with the now-official release date of March 31.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord has been in development at TaleWorlds Entertainment since September 2012, just a year after Mount & Blade’s With Fire and Sword expansion was released. The game’s development was largely quiet until 2016 when 40 minutes of gameplay was released. At the time, many expected the game to be released in 2017, but the launch never came to pass. In 2018 TaleWorlds finally put out a playable demo, but the release was still put off. Finally, in August 2019, a release of March 2020 was finally confirmed.
For those interested in picking the game up for Early Access, TaleWorlds has also announced the initial pricing for the game. Fans can buy Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord from three different locations: the Epic Games Store, Steam, and the TaleWorlds website. Early buyers won’t be receiving a discount, it seems. The price as of March 31 will be $49.99.
Ultimately, hype for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is certain to be high. The fanbase for Mount & Blade makes a lot of jokes about the game due to its very long development cycle. They still love the game, however. That’s why Mount & Blade: Warband has an Overwhelmingly Positive review status on Steam with over 77,000 reviews.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord will still have to prove itself, though. Luckily, it certainly appears to be well-prepared. The action-RPG has vastly improved its visuals, making it difficult to believe it’s in the same franchise as the first title. It’s also leaving more heavily into the strategy gameplay that set it apart from other titles with siege warfare. In any case, players will soon be able to find out for themselves.
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord releases March 31 in Early Access on PC.
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