Edwin Evans-Thirwell, writing for Rock Paper Shotgun:

Paradox Interactive delayed jail management simulator Prison Architect 2 indefinitely this August, commenting at the time that the game had notable performance issues, and that its system-led design was proving tricky to tinker with.

Speaking to me at Paradox’s Media Day last week, deputy chief executive officer Mattias Lilja offered a shade more insight on the decision, suggesting that hard-up players have “higher expectations” at present and are less trusting that developers will fix problems.

Also, regarding Cities: Skyline 2:

When I spoke to him separately, Fåhraeus admitted that Paradox knew that Cities: Skyline 2’s performance needed improvement before launch - they just miscalculated how much players would care.

and

“We were aware that performance was not great, but we underestimated how it will be perceived by players - how serious the player perception would be,”

It amazes that Publishers still think they can release buggy, broken games and people will just be thankful that it released at all.

I don’t think expecting a game to run well, be as promised and something worthy of the price paid is “high-expectations” surely thats just the bare minimum.

Considering Paradox chose to release a paid DLC for Cities 2 before fixing any of the actual real issues within the game, it seems correct to be skeptical that Publishers will actually start to put performance and quality before profit.