Prison Architect: Free for Life update out now for free

Paradox Interactive and Double Eleven have released a surprise update for Prison Architect, and it’s free.

Since January 2019 when Paradox took over, the numbers for Prison Architect have been impressive indeed. With more than 1.3million expansion units sold, a 60% increase in monthly active users, and 1.5million base copies of the game sold.

This new update is the “first in a series of content launches, Free for Life vastly improves the quality of life for Prison Architect players with improvements to the Scheduler, Guard Ranks, and Inmate Aging”.

Prison Architect: Free for Life makes life better for Wardens, aiming to implement the community’s feedback and focusing on the most requested features, so that players can spend more time managing their compound rather than navigating menus. Prison Architect owners can download the Free for Life update on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox One (it will be released on PS4 soon!)

“We are constantly learning to improve our players’ gaming experience, and we committed to the release of this free update to thank everyone who has been supporting Prison Architect,” said Sandra Neudinger, Vice President of Business at Paradox Interactive. “This game is one of the cornerstones within PDX management segment, and has helped us build the foundation for a strong and attractive management game portfolio that I’m sure will keep engaging our players”.

Here’s the list of features: 

• Prisoner Log and improved Scheduler – Always be aware of what’s happening in your prison with the new Prisoner Log. Check your inmates’ activities, uncover misconducts ahead of time and keep track of who gets released, reformed, or reoffended. We also improved the game’s Scheduler, adding new options and settings in the palm of your hand.
• Save and Reuse – Whenever you create a new prison, a new policy, or a quick build, you’ll be able to save them in your Preferences. Save time setting up your prison next time you wish to start afresh.
• Aging is caring – Now inmates are divided into Young, Senior, and Elderly. After spending an extended period of time in your prison, they will change both visually and functionally. They will also develop different needs compared to younger inmates.
• New Guards ranks – Hired guards will now arrive at your prison unranked and will need to work hard to get promoted to Officer and Specialist Officer. Their commitment will be paid off though, as each increase in rank will provide additional perks.
• Improved building and planning tools – The planning menu is getting renewed with lots of new options for fences and walls. Moreover, when “drawing” your walls and using construction options, you’ll see a new cursor-based tooltip stating the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the room, along with the planned cost for the currently drawn selection.