Developer Matt Dabrowski says it won’t be an “enormous wait” and the new release date will be “announced closer to launch.”

Matt Dabrowski’s Streets of Rogue 2, a sequel to the hit sandbox RPG, has received a free demo on PC as part of the Steam Next Fest. Unfortunately, its early access launch has been delayed again, this time from October 22nd to “some other point in the near future.”

On Steam, Dabrowski emphasized that he doesn’t intend “for this to be an enormous wait. The exact date will be announced closer to launch.” Reasons for the delay range from the game’s large, open-ended nature to being the only programmer on the project. Though October 22nd seemed viable in July, “Ultimately, despite my best efforts, I felt the game needed a bit more time in the oven.

“My sincere apologies for the delays. I fully understand how annoying it can be to look forward to something only to have the rug pulled. That’s why we won’t announce any more specific dates until it’s a 100% lock.” Nevertheless, Dabrowski considers it to be “a lot closer to being early access-ready, as the game’s foundations are pretty solid.”

As for the previously announced playtest, the demo replaces that and features the same planned content. It’s an alpha build, which means some content may not make it into the full release. The demo starts on an island from the “main landmass”, and players must take down the Mayor or gain their favor.

Of course, as with the first game, players can tackle this in any way they see fit. There are multiple classes, and the world is randomly generated (though some island properties remain static). Controller support isn’t available but it will be added later, so stay tuned for updates.