More than seven years after its announcement, "Mount & Blade 2: Banner Road" will finally be available on Steam this month, at least in Early Access. After the recent delays, we were a little worried about whether the game would be released in March, but it turns out that it will actually be released earlier than planned, and you can get it on March 30 instead of March 31.

TaleWorlds switched to remote work two weeks ago, and the momentum does not seem to be slowing down at all. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the entire team and the community's demand for the game to be released as soon as possible, "Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord" will be released in Early Access the day before," the announcement reads.

Bannerlord will also be discounted 10% for the first two weeks, with an additional 10% discount for owners of the previous title; TaleWorlds acknowledges that many people are struggling financially due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and that in addition to the discount, what the Early Access version gets by making it clear that it is worth it to play now.

You can play custom battles and campaigns, in which TaleWorlds says you'll find everything you'd expect from Mount & Blade, plus a new kingdom management system and other new additions. However, if you start playing on Monday, you should be prepared for all the things that come with a game in development, including bugs, balance issues, and the disabling or missing of some features.

The multiplayer beta has been underway for some time, allowing players to test four modes, including siege and captain modes. The game will be developed in parallel with single-player, so players can try out new features and modes during the Early Access phase.

"If you want to experience all that "Mount & Blade II: Banner Road" has to offer, we strongly recommend that you hold off on purchasing the game until its full release," warns TaleWorlds.

This will be nice, as it's not every Monday that we have something to look forward to. We will also be bringing those who are new to Mount & Blade up to speed.

Mount & Blade 2: Banner Road will open at 10:00 a.m. Japan time / 3:00 a.m. EST.