The Precinct is still in development, but players are growing impatient for a release date

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The open-world police sandbox game, The Precinct (old-school GTA, but we’re the good guy), was first announced in June 2023, with an original release planned for August 2024. But after a couple of delays – starting with Fall 2024, then to the first half of 2025 – we’re now down to just three months left in that window. So, the big question is: will it get pushed back again, or are we finally about to jump in and experience the full game?

Delayed, but for good reason

At this point, we’re all kind of used to this. Seems like almost every game, big or small, ends up getting delayed these days. Fable got pushed to 2026, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is finally dropping after a couple of schedule changes, and Tales of the Shire was right on the verge of release – then boom, another delay.

Game delays pretty much always come down to the same thing. Studios want to make sure they deliver a solid product. And when it comes to The Precinct, it’s hard to be mad at Fallen Tree Games. They’re a tiny team, so it makes sense that things take a bit longer. Especially with this kind of feedback they received.

During Steam Next Fest in October 2024, approximately 300,000 players gave the demo a spin and expressed their opinions. Given the intricacy of the game, the developers acknowledged they are finding it challenging to adhere to the initial release schedule. They require extra time to perfect the gameplay mechanics, eliminate glitches, and ensure all aspects function flawlessly.

After many months of anticipation, we finally received updates from Fallen Tree Games in February 2025. They shared a glimpse of refined gameplay, featuring a thrilling pursuit scene involving a suspect and showcasing a standard traffic stop as well.

Pre-orders are up, but The Precinct’s release date is still a mystery

The developer didn’t share an exact release date yet, but in December 2024, Microids, the publisher of The Precinct’s physical versions for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, announced a limited edition. We can pre-order it from places like Amazon, GameStop, and Walmart. The funny thing is, different stores list different release dates. Amazon just throw up the usual December 31 placeholder, while others have it set for April 29.

As always, players are debating the real launch date – some even spotted March 31 listed as the release. But others are saying to stay patient since those “delivery on or shortly after release” notes on store pages don’t mean much until we get an official announcement.

There’s even a chance the game won’t launch on all platforms at the same time. But usually, it’s the other way around, PC drops first, then consoles follow, just like we saw with FragPunk and plenty of other games.

Since there’s still no release date on Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox stores, we’ll just have to wait for official word. Hopefully, it drops before GTA VI, which is still (somehow) aiming for a 2025 release.

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2025-03-17 15:03