Firefly Studios announces a September 2nd global release date for Stronghold Crusader 2, their siege warfare real-time strategy sequel. "We are thrilled to finally give Stronghold players a release date for the game," says Simon Bradbury, lead designer. "Fans of the Crusader series have high hopes for Crusader 2 and although many want to get their hands on a copy as soon as possible, it was never our intent to rush the development process. Since the beginning of the project we have maintained that Crusader 2 will pop its head above the parapet only when we are happy that it is truly ready for battle. Well now we think it is almost there, we are about to go into final testing and have recently been confident enough to demo our baby at public events such as EGX London, Rezzed and PAX East. We will have a sequel worthy of the Crusader name come September 2nd." They also explain this will be require Steam:

The September 2nd release date will be a worldwide simultaneous retail and digital release. On launch day Stronghold Crusader 2 will be available both online through Steam and in stores, with a physical copy of the game on offer to fans looking to add Crusader 2 to their collection. Both editions of the game will be exclusive to the Steam platform, requiring the software to active. Please note you will still be able to play Crusader 2 offline by setting the Steam client to offline mode.