Come hell or high water, Cruelty Squad follow-up Psycho Patrol R will hit Early Access March 2025

Consumer Softworks has conceded that Psycho Patrol R, the next game from the developer of Cruelty Squad will hit Early Access on March 31, 2025. That’s a “or I’ll be damned” sort of deadline.

The announcement came not long after creator Ville Kallio declared on Twitter that he was considering March 31 as his deadline, adding, “I need to release something, or I’ll completely destroy my mental health.” Yeah, that sounds like the creative process I’m familiar with. However, he’s now made it official and stamped it on the Steam store page.

Cruelty Squad is a tough act to follow. It reached the illusive peak of meaningful jank-pop, striking a chord with many despite its ironic aesthetic dissonance. It is just weird, depicting a horrible corporatocracy where you act as a hitman. The graphics were disgustingly garish and clashed horribly, while the soundtrack was discomforting. In my review, I referred to it as “a purposeful desecration of the holy grounds of game design.” It’s great! 

But despite how it looks, Kallio claims that the attention the game received was a surprise. In fact, contrary to what some might think, it’s not the product of an intricate and carefully considered design process. “I know what my problem is now. With Cruelty Squad, I was aiming for the esteemed “mixed” reviews Steam category. I simply need to aim for that again,” he Tweeted.

Sometimes, that’s how raw genius manifests. Unshackled from expectations, it is free from the pressures that come from trying to attain perfection. Now that the bar for quality has been established, the stress and anguish from the extra attention should result in nothing but beauty crafted by the hands of Kallio.

“I think you should romanticize everything I do, especially ruining my mental health with game development,” he said. Done, good sir. As you command.

Psycho Patrol R doesn’t seem to be following the same formula as Cruelty Squad. You pilot a mech for much of it, though you can get out and walk if you’re willing to stoop to that level. Not long ago, Kallio released a long in-production gameplay video. Even with its substantial length, it’s hard to glean what the hell is going on. And if you’ve played Cruelty Squad, that is completely on brand.

Psycho Patrol R is set to launch on PC in Early Access on March 31, 2025.