Slitherine is a fairly aggressive publisher.
Heretofore, yes. I suspect the disastrous launch of Distant Worlds 2 has made them a bit more cautious, however. Henceforth, I don't think they'll be releasing any game (especially those with high expectations) until it's been thoroughly tested and ready to rock.
...so Kingdoms will be a nice stop-gap.
Personally, i hope it turns out to be much more than a stop-gap. I wasn't kidding when I said I'm now looking forward to FoG:K even more than Knights of Honor 2 (though I'm still eagerly anticipating that one as well).