Prison Architect 2 announced from Paradox Interactive and Double Eleven

As soon as I saw a Prison Architect teaser recently, I knew this was about to come! Prison Architect 2 has now been formally announced from Paradox Interactive with Double Eleven on developer duty.

This was expected anyway, since Paradox purchased the rights to Prison Architect back in early 2019, and then in March 2023 the original had its final upgrade. So of course Paradox weren't going to sit on it.

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Features:

• The World’s Greatest Prison Simulation Game - Now in 3D! Use your resources to build, manage, and control your prison in classic Prison Architect playstyle—now in 3 glorious dimensions! Design every corner of your prison and manage everything from daily schedules to policies, and ensure your prison is safe, self-sustaining, and secure.
• Build the Ultimate Penitentiary: Establish all of your prison infrastructure over multiple floors, and use tons of snazzy new tools that allow you to build a state-of-the-art correctional facility. The design of your prison will affect every aspect of your inmates’ lives, so make your schemes accordingly!
• The Smartest Inmates Ever: Unique inmates have schemes of their own – they now form distinct relationships that influence behavior, make decisions based on wants and needs, and plot their paths better than ever. Watch as they interact and attempt to navigate the daily trials of your prison. Remember that every choice you make might either help or hinder your inmates' correctional journey. What type of relationships will your inmates have with your prison?
• The Prison Magnate: Establish and run a true institution from the top, building up unique correctional facilities in a freshly upgraded Career Mode that will take you across a brand new world map. Will your prisons end up being monuments to rehabilitation or retribution? Most importantly, will they pay the bills?
• Every Action has a Reaction: Choices matter and yours will determine the fate of your prison. More control than ever—over inmates, prison policies, architecture and more—means more ways for things to go well… or not! Plan carefully or you may have to cope with escapes, gang wars, and all sorts of expensive and destructive problems.

From the press release: “In Prison Architect 2, our team set out to create the next level in management gameplay. A greater degree of player freedom, impactful choices, and inmate simulation come together to provide an enhanced presentation of prison management, in a 3D world. Much loved features make a return to help you manage your inmates, quell riots, prevent escapes and share your prisons, but now cross-platform! In addition to a new upgrade system, a new Career Mode, and more.” said Gareth Wright, Game Director at Double Eleven. “We look forward to seeing how players get creative with multiple floors and catwalks to finally construct and expand in 3D. And then optimize and balance their prison’s safety, security and self-betterment.”

Currently, it seems much like Cities: Skylines 2 that Paradox also publishes, that the Native Linux and macOS support has been dropped. I've reached out to Paradox PR to clarify. Hopefully (and quite likely) it will run with Steam Play Proton, and if not, no doubt future Proton updates could get it running like we've seen with the tens of thousands of games that run on desktop Linux and Steam Deck.

It's due out on March 26th.

You can follow / pre-order on Steam for $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99.