Hello dear “The Settlers” fans,
Since the announcement that “The Settlers” are back, we have received an overwhelming amount of comments, feedback and suggestions.
There are so many “The Settlers” fans out there who love the many different aspects of the game. Be it the economic part, the military, the look and feel, the “wuselfaktor” or the inviting world – to name a few. We are incredibly grateful for your feedback, and over the last few months, while performing playtests and diary studies, one thing became clear: while we are on the right path to deliver a great game, we really want to deliver an exceptional gaming experience.
Since quality is our main priority, we want to take the time necessary to make it right. Therefore, we had to make the difficult decision to postpone the release of the game until further notice. The additional time will be used to address your feedback and deliver the best “The Settlers” game possible. While we cannot provide a new release date yet, rest assured we will keep you updated via The Settlers Alliance and our other channels as soon as we can give you further information.
Thanks for your understanding and patience.
Cheers,
Your “The Settlers” Team
Dutch :
ik begrijp sommige berichten niet, van wanneer het spel uit komt. al die minderleuke feedbacks over het spel, ook ik zelf heb de collectors edition al betaald, en ik wacht het gewoon af zonder al die ophef.. de langer ze er mee bezig zijn ” de beter het spel wordt. (zo kijk ik er immers tegen aan) 🙂 aan de team: jullie doen geweldig werk. dit kunnen we zien in al jullie games. 🙂 we kunnen het zien als een kindje, je toond het pas aan andere als je er klaar voor bent en iedereen zal er trots op zijn. 😀
English:
I don’t understand some messages from when the game comes out. all those bad feedbacks about the game, I’ve already paid for the collector’s edition myself, and I’ll just wait it out without all the fuss.. the longer they spend on it ” the better the game gets. (that’s how I look at it after all) 🙂 to the team: you are doing a great job. we can see this in all your games. 🙂 we can see it as a baby, you only show it to others when you are ready and everyone will be proud of it. 😀
The problem is we don’t know if they are doing any job at all. This message is over a year old and since then there was no other news, not even a confirmation that the game is still being made, even though they are constantly being asked about it. This is straightforwardly rude for the players, and your attitude isn’t encouraging them to make the best game possible, it just shows them that they can do whatever they want. Just remember the story with Settlers 8 several years ago, which was halfway through suddenly changed into crappy Champions of Anteria – this is what you get for being nice and forgiving to the developers. I expect nothing better here.
I think you are afraid of other upcoming games like ‘Manor Lords’ fi (developed by 1 guy only) and ‘Medieval Dynasty’ (also but a handful of developers)
Maybe in future consider ‘early access’. Bah!
This is now getting ridiculous, I do understand that you want the game to be the best it can be. That is fine, but its now 2 years or almost and still nothing, not even a hint as to when it will be released. the pre order was a ruse in all its glory and got everyone excited over absolutely nothing.
Its overdue time for some honesty to us settlers fans that have stood by you for years and still stand by you, but are fast fading from the joy we used to get from getting new games. You guys have said nothing for months and now still nothing… not good enough.
When and if you release this you will be expecting huge sales, although I believe you will be sadly disappointed. I for one am now in two minds to buy or not. Its been nothing but let down and lack of communication. Not acceptable guys!!!!
dude, I think it got canceled again. I mean some reports or even rumors are out that ubisoft had cut the staff back down to just a bare group of people. another poster had said that they had just shelved the entire thing and wont be coming out any time soon, if at all.
Hi Frosty,
I don’t know where you get your info from, however the fact remains that we are still left in the dark. There is has been no updates for months and absolutely nothing about the game at all. Do you not think that regardless of the pandemic that at the very least an update would have been possible?
Where is your source?
Where can I sign up to get news about this game. Ive been eagerly awaiting it for so long but cant find any updates anywhere.
Hi Foxx,
There are no updates to be found, BB has gone extremely quiet and no one is answering our questions. It seems that we are to be left in the dark….well it seems that way.
Realllly looking forward to this game..
I hope we get an update soon
Come on, say something, is it comming before summer?
Is it comming before the world ends?
Is it comming… ?
Like honestly, anything guys come on?
This game is so important for us. I am from Brazil and having a brazilian art director to this game is so Amazing! I LOVE the water colors! Please! KEEP IT UP!
Can anyone just give us something to go on?
I’ve been waiting for a new Settlers game ever since the last one came out in 2010…
A little bit of information provided could go a long way for all the fans that are waiting.
You can shove your game where the sun don’t shine cuz you have no consideration for your customers. If it ever comes out (which I doubt) it’s going to be shitty anyway like your support.
Come on, give us an update!
Hi,
We are a lot waiting for this game. Could you atleast just be honest about it, will it come out or should we just put our money in the game Foundation?
Your communication is very deficient, nearly disrespectful.
There are so many Settlers fans in the world who are really disappointed that the game has been delayed. Let us assume that the game is delayed for good reasons and that eventually it will be worth the wait and our patiency will be rewared with another very nice Settlers title. As far as we know, the game is postponed and not cancelled. However, since we are not getting any updates, it makes you wonder if that is truely the case. There comes a point in time where the complete silence of the developpers team is not just rude, knowing there are so many fans waiting for an update, it becomes disrespectful. Very sad the way this goes.
Hello team creating the settlers. It’s been a long time since your last message. I would like you to understand that there is nothing worse than a purchased preorder and a total lack of news. For the sake of clarification, it’s not about rushing but not knowing when you are going to release another legitimate part of our beloved game. So please show empathy and indicate at least in which quarter of the year you intend to return the game you have already purchased. I am waiting for a positive consideration of my message and information when it will be played, or at least approximate. The biggest fan for years with the best regards and good wishes.
Hello,
All pre-orders have been canceled and everyone should have been refunded all ready. If this is not the case for you, please contact customer support via https://support.ubi.com
Thank you and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
I never got a refund, game still shows in my orders list, but I don’t mind. I’ll wait for it.
Would be nice to have some update that it’s still being worked on though. Been a very long time since the last official post. Feels like it’s been abandoned with the complete silence since the news that it was delayed indefinitely.
Hello,
The game will definitely be removed from your list and you will get a refund. I will poke some colleagues from the customer support team to make sure everything is in order.
Cheers,
Ubi-Barbalatu
Hello,
Why are you avoiding the delay question. There is a point when complete silence of you as developers team is not just rude, knowing there are so many fans waiting for an update, it becomes disrespectful. I am very sad the way this goes.
I love the settlers series and I think it’s really great how the game is so far.. I followed the progression of the game all the time and suddenly when it would almost release it just stopped…. And now to date you didn’t respond to any reactions and probably didn’t make the game better. Just let us that you’re still working on the game! With one simple message…
You are so right! The Settlers series has many fans all over the world. The least thing they could do for their fanbase is keep us informed every few months on the progress that has been made. And if the game is cancelled, please be honest and let us know so we can stop hoping, wishing and waiting. That is not to much to ask or is it?
Exactly!
Well I just would love a bit more freedom with the placement of buildings. So that you not really play by the rules and that not every game of settlers about the same is.
A great shame, was looking forward to this before the original intended release date of Christmas 2018, then it was pushed back to early 2020, now effectively cancelled. The game looks like it’s very advanced, what is the reason for cancellation? COVID? No gems/micro-transactions? Would be a sad day when every game has to be time/gem/advert/micro-transaction oriented!
I don’t see anything that the game was canceled. This is not true.
As stated in the original message – we will share more information when we have something worth and more to share.
A message from ‘the Settlers’ fans.
Hello dear ‘the Settlers’ team.
How is your work going? We are just asking, because the game was supposed to be released a year ago, and looked pretty much ready back then. What has happened? We haven’t heard from you since July. Was your ‘message’ just a polite way to tell us to get off your backs? Are you actually making the game, or has this project been halted, but you just don’t want to admit it? It would be very nice to just type a few words like ‘yes, we are still making the game’ or ‘no, the project’s been dropped’.
I think the project as been halted. I send a message to the developer team about a refund I wanted. In this message I also asked what is the status of the game and why it is taking so long. When I got an answer the developers are literally avoided the question about why the game takes so long. I am very sad the way this game will end.
Wow Ubisoft strikes again. From Anteria and now this. Really goes to show what a masterpiece the original Settlers was.
Respected developer team,
Can you have several army in the same time , so you can have houndreds of units ?
If not can it be done through a setting ? So you can play with very big armies .
Will there be blackpowder units ? That will be great !!!
Unlimited resources like in settlers 7 (geologist) ?
Like in settlers 7 where you can send geologist to incraise the mine’s capacity,
and the population will be locked or it can be unlimited i mean not blocked by a certain number ?
Sorry for these many question.
If I understand this post and some of the Ubi Team’s comments in this thread, this game has no timeline for release and no timeline for updates. I’m very disappointed, I love this series and am sad to see it in what appears to be a dead state.
Will there be unlimited resources , I mean , for example in settlers 7 where you can send geologist to incraise the mine’s capacity ?
And the population will be locked or it can be unlimited i mean not blocked by a certain number ?
I just want to say I love this team, and respect their decision indefinite. I will continue my strife to increase the hype for this game so it will launch with a great success in the eventual future.
Since the above update was posted, the regular updates on the game development have stopped. Guessing this isn’t even being worked on at the moment?
Too many of you are saying “why did you refund me, i would have left the preorder and waited”.
A guy further up answered this.
If you offer the option to preorder, by law you have to release the game within a year.
They refunded you, probably as advised by their lawyers.
What does that say to you?
Settlers 2022…….
It tells me that the game is fucked! I think it’s dead.
Patiently waiting for the big event missed out on the diary test
Hopefully, in these times people are beavering away so we get the game soon
I am working from home as are many people and it has not slowed down our output in the least… So keep going all this plague thing will be history and life will continue as it did before Good luck people we are with you till the next game and maybe beyond. ( if I live that long)
I remember the last game that had the slogan “It’s done, when it’s Done”. It flopped. Everyone had over took what they had achieved once it was released. There was no appetite for the game. So, stop listening to the fan who want a Homer Simpson’s Car (Search for “The Homer Car” on google, etc) or put their ideas into the next Settlers. Just release the game as it is. First instincts are the best ones. Don’t change your minds at this late stage.
Due to the uncertainity of the release I asked for a refund prior to Ubisoft refunding anyway. I am also a big Settlers fan and these set backs and delays are rather disappointing and frustrating. I have all the settlers series and was so excited to learn that another serial was coming out.
Now I’m wondering if there is a new settlers at all. Seems to me that there must be a lot of problems with the game as it currently stands. The other thing is that you can only please some of the people some of the time. As much as its nice that you listen to your settlers players/fans it would a folly to think that you can incorporate everything us players suggest. However, I am prepared to wait until the end of this year, then I will be giving up on the game ever being released.
As for a closed beta that would be wonderful, at least us oldies that have played the game since its inception, and i have played the online version since it was a locked beta. So the previous requests for a closed beta would be the best thing right now to keep your customers/settlers players involved and give them some hope that the game will come out at some stage, maybe.
Honestly, lets get some reality happening with this issue, someone at Ubisoft must know more than you lot are telling us. So come on Ubisoft, lets get real and tell us honestly whether this game is real or not.
Obviously someone at Ubisoft knows more than this team, they are only creating the game they are not in charge of whether or not this gets priority over their blockbuster games, e.g. Assassins Creed. Don’t blame the Settlers team blame the corporate suits who are controlling how many resources this team has and therefore how fast this can go.
I’m glad that you’re committed to taking your time although as an avid strategy gamer I am disappointed. Recently we’ve seen all these gaming announcements and reveals from Ubisoft, but as I was watching some of the trailers I couldn’t help but think, where’s The Settlers? So with this announcement it really has come as no surprise.
The frustrating truth is that the strategy genre is still not being taken seriously by big developers despite a re-emerging and growing market. I bet the bosses at Ubisoft were genuinely surprised by how well Anno 1800 has done. It’s one of my favourite games of all time, but for the bosses at Ubisoft it’s mostly about the big blockbuster FPS and open world games which can be great, but why can’t strategy get the same attention? Who’s to say that a strategy game can’t still make big bucks for a company? The new console generation, particularly the Xbox is modelling off the PC! Also the goodwill from players such as myself that comes with making great strategy games is priceless for a company. It’s one of the reasons I like Ubisoft as opposed to developers like EA who used to develop strategy games that were really fun. No more…
I say all this only because I am a fan of the strategy genre and I know that there is so much potential. I’d like to think that we can rekindle some of the good old days in the late 90s and early 00s which to me is the golden age of strategy. I felt there was a bit of that spark with Anno 1800.
Of course I might be completely wrong and there are genuine issues to development, but I can’t help but think, given how strategy games have fallen by the way side in recent years, that the real issue is The Settlers is not being taken seriously by Ubisoft. It’s certainly not taken as seriously as AC or Farcry that’s for sure. If time and resources where put into the game it’d be ready by now. This was originally intended for a 2019 launch I believe.
Anyway with all this extra time to think about development, it’s very difficult as a fan of The Settlers series to give a proper analysis on what I’d like to see given that I haven’t seen much of it so far. All in all, The Settlers 3 and 4 were my favourites although I understand this is taking aspects from The Settlers 2? Haven’t played 1 and 2 so difficult to say!
One thing I will say is that it’s important in any strategy game to have a balance between macro and micro. So for instance the city building and managing the economy could be the macro elements whereas RTS style combat is more micro. A mix of the two is what makes a great strategy game.
Going by Anno 1800, the reason why it did better than 2205 was because you stuck to what made the game great to begin with and then built upon those elements. One thing that I believe was taken out of 2205, along with the archipelagos, was the RTS style naval combat (and I don’t mean the mini game RTS stuff that was in there to compensate). This makes a return in 1800 and adds another layer of gameplay and enjoyment. It makes building up your islands and trade networks all the more meaningful. Yes the city building is arguably the main aspect, but to take away the RTS elements takes away some of the meaning behind the city building. I like the idea of having an empire with a sense of power in the game. That’s very fun and building a military adds to that and many other players.
This is the kind of thinking that I would suggest you have with The Settlers. Stick to what made the game successful and build on that. Combine city building and RTS combat. The city building should take precedent over RTS combat else it would be more like Age of Empires, but don’t neglect the combat.
Hey, take your time and really looking forward to a game that is finished and not half-broken on release! Hopefully I will enjoy your game soon as I havent seen a good RTS game for many many years…
Make a game that will be a legacy, as there is an opportunity for that right now and please no micro-transaction if its gonna be a full game release :).
So this means that this game is officially dead.
Despite the apparent lack of other nations in the game I had high hopes for it.
But now with total refund Ubisoft killed another game what cannot be turned into microtransaction money printing machine.
RIP.
For what it’s worth to anyone reading this. For as far as i’m aware, laws are in place that enforce any game that is available for pre-order to be released within the year of it’s pre-order announcement. So the fact that people were refunded implies that the game will most likely not be coming out this year and probably not any time soon in 2021.
I am really disappointed. The game looked pretty much ready back in Autumn 2019, when it was close to its initial release date. I can understand a few months delay needed to polish some elements, but this is becoming disturbing. How come you were able to show a few hours of decent looking gameplay over 9 months ago and now suddenly are postponing the game indefinitely and refunding the preorders?
To put it into some perspective – since you have announced the game, I have managed to get married, get my wife pregnant, have my daughter born and she is already learning to walk by now.
Please, please just promise me one thing – when the game is finally ready, its still going to be ‘the Settlers’, not some half-hearted sudden project like Champions of Anteria (not that I would have anything against it in general, but I was already waiting for a new Settlers back then, and the change was disappointing to say the least).
Im sorry to say, but the Game is dead.
I can wait as long as it takes but why not take advantage of this delay to Beta Test your game on Stadia. I’m one of those people who can’t justify buying a new computer to just play the one game. Stadia is offering me an alternative and I’ve read that Ubisoft is standing by this new platform. I’m lucky to have a low latency and good speed so I’d really like to trial Settlers through Stadia. Please consider this suggestion as you might get more traction once you release the game…
I guess many of us prefer a good game then a broken game,
There was once an option that you could join a test game, I was apparently too late, was form this guy “Percky” from youtube. I think the video is offline tho.
Why havent been more of those? if you want to have good feedback you should include your own community, atm were only able to react on some screenshots of new buildings? Or getting a “inspiring” video of how the art director is decorating his house..
How it’s done right:
Open some maps/levels, include gamers to experience it on their own?
Like you can with Steam Early acces.
Why this isn’t done right:
First you start a new settlers hype, then you delay and delay even more, now you pull back. Some advise don’t start a hype if you can’t deliver
Maybe you should make a video of Meet the team – why we are delaying instead of a post without even a date stamp :/
Nando Dolleman – frustrated fan
Hi The Settlers team,
While I understand and appreciate the reasons for the delay. I’m disappointed that I was not given the choice of getting a refund or just leaving my preorder there for when the game is ready. It might mean that I now don’t purchase the game at all. Not a smart move for sales.
Man that sucks, thought I’d finally get to play this year 🙁
More importantly do right by the series and we’ll all be happy when it releases.
I received a letter to refund the price of the game within 14 working days.
I’M REALLY SORRY
Nice to finally hear something and just like most people, I don’t mind waiting a bit longer to get a better product. Would be nice to give a little bit of hint on when it’s expected to be out, but as a software developer myself I know it can be hard to give an exact time on when it’s done
Considering the last “Release date” we had just said 2020, I guess this means that we should not expect to see this game this year.
I do wonder what kind of feedback they got, would love to see an article where they mention some of those things they changed
Given the complexity of a game like The Settlers where all game mechanics play together and even small changes makes us take into consideration various elements, we can’t say what will change exactly.
As some already introduced features may change, we will stop weekly / monthly updates for the time being and will post updates as soon as we can.
Where are the weekly / monthly updates! Dont make promise you can’t keep!
A frustrated Settlers fan
Thanks for the update and appreciate you want to give us the best experience, but why would you have not given the people who preordered the choice whether to refund or not? I’m sure others, like myself, were happy to wait and perhaps as said above, give us a beta version?
thanks,
As we can’t name a new release window and because there might be changes to some of the features of the game, we judged it was fairer to cancel preorders made on the Ubisoft Store and we advised our partners to do the same
I appreciate the decision but why refund and cancelling my pre-order i can wait until the game releases and thank you for yours efforts
No problem – I’ll wait until 2099 if necessary 🙂
Hehe, i can’t until 2099 i’m 55 now, so my time max is hmmm, mbe 2060 or 2065..
With all the news recently about unhealthy ‘crunch’ periods coercing game developers to work extremely long hours to meet deadlines, to the detriment of their mental and physical health (of which Ubisoft is an offender) and all in the name of ‘profits’, I for one do NOT mind about the release date being pushed back. This game will be amazing when it comes out but it is not more important than the well being of the humans that make it. Take as long as you need, and thanks for keeping us in the loop.
Really sad news, I’ve expecting the game for 2 years by now. But if I can make a suggestions, we fans would love to have access to a Closed Beta to test the game and appoint bugs and help finishing the game, give us the chance to do that!
truly am sad but i LOVE you guys at dusseldorf and even the settlers games are older than i have been alive and will wait as log as it takes! cheers guys!
When I pre-ordered the game nearly one year ago, I was not expecting having to wait this long. I love the Settlers series and this news comes as a big disappointment to me. I understand the given explanation and respect the decision, but the fact that we still don’t have a realistic timeline is really frustrating I must say. But rather a quality game developed with attention for all the small details, other than a game that was rushed to the finishline. Long story short: very mixed feelings.
Came here to find out why I’d got a refund on my pre-order.
Looking forward to eventually playing the game, I appreciate you taking the time to make it as good as it can be!
I have not (yet) seen a refund on my pre-oder. I wonder if they are proactively refunding all the pre-orders? If so, that’s not very promissing 🙁
As we can’t name a new release window and because there might be changes to some of the features of the game, we judged it was fairer to cancel preorders made on the Ubisoft Store and we advised our partners to do the same
Your vendor / shop will contact you shortly with the detail, if you haven’t already received an email from them/us. If not, please reach out to your vendor.