[Update #2]: It took a fair bit longer, but Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord will be unleashed on October 25th, 2022.

[Update]: If all goes well, Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord will be launching in late 2021.

Quite a few years have gone by since Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord was first announced, but the long wait is now finally over as Bannerlord has just launched onto Steam Early Access! While the initial version is obviously unfinished, the good news is that it's pretty stable and quite playable, so you should be able to have a good bit of fun with it.

No exact release date has been announced just yet, but according to the brief description, Bannerlord will be in Early Access for around a year. Expect to see updates add unique maps for every town and castle in the game, a variety of new quest content, voice overs for numerous NPCs, and naturally, balancing, bug fixing and quality of life improvements. Needless to say, don't be surprised if Bannerlord ends up being in Early Access for a fair bit longer than expected given how ambitious it really is.

When it comes to the gameplay, you can get a pretty good idea of what Bannerlord has to offer through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a peek:

You can learn more about Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, as well as follow any further updates, over at Steam. Have fun!