Crusader Kings III

Your court is the heart of your kingdom, and now, in Crusader Kings III: Royal Court, you will be able to engage in vital affairs of state in a new game area to awe visitors with your splendor and display marvelous items and artifacts. The first major expansion for Paradox’s award-winning grand strategy role-playing game is now available.

Decorate your court with works of art created by master craftspeople or with rare artifacts captured or inherited across the generations. Hear the pleas of your subjects as they ask for royal favors or mercy, while maintaining a court grand enough to reflect a reputation appropriate for someone of your stature.

On a less personal note, reshape your society with dynamic and dramatic cultural options. Change your realm’s habits and practices to better suit a large multicultural empire or strike your own path, forging an original culture as old ways prove unsuitable for new circumstances.

Watch the Crusader Kings III: Royal Court Release Trailer HERE.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Royal Court include:

• Royal Throne Room: A visual representation of your royal court will reflect all the accumulated majesty and prestige of your dynasty. Only kings and emperors have royal courts, so climb the ladder of power to bask in your own majesty.
• Hold Court: Interact with vassals and courtiers as they come to you with their problems, seeking a royal judgment.
• Grandeur: Increase the quality of life at your court with fancier trappings and better food, all the better to impress your rivals and attract higher quality guests.
• Inspired People: Talented artists, craftspeople and thinkers can be commissioned to work on new projects, adding treasures and artifacts to your court. The higher the grandeur of your court, the better the quality of creator you will attract.
• Court Artifacts: Put your arts and crafts on display, and pass these items of great renown down the family line. All artifacts can be stolen in war, building a legacy of ownership and personal claims down the centuries.
• Hybrid Cultures: Make the most of a multicultural realm, developing a new way of life that is specifically adapted to your varied population and geography.
• Cultural Divergence: Split from your traditional culture, adapting it into something new that better fits your situation or aspirations.

As always, this expansion is released with a major update free for all Crusader Kings III players. This update adds more detail and context for the game’s culture system, as well as the addition of minor court positions, a character inventory system for weapons and armor, new events and a way for you to design your own custom coat of arms.

Learn more about Crusader Kings III: Royal Court at the expansions official website.

Source: Blue’s News

In this post, Paradox Interactive explains the release schedule of the Royal Court expansion for Crusader Kings III, the historical strategy sequel. The add-on did not carry a release date when it was announced, so it’s not actually delayed, but the tone suggests the news that this is now expected in 2022 represents some sort of setback:

With that in mind we are not, at the moment, entirely satisfied with Royal Court’s progress, especially regarding its stability. There are a number of bugs we really need to iron out, and are taking more time to make sure it is in line with the standards you would expect from us.

We also understand the frustration that delays cause, but we would like to make sure we are always as forthcoming as possible and that you hear the news directly from us. It’s a tricky balance between sentiments like “It will release whenever we finish making sure it is ready” and things like giving exact timelines only to make necessary but upsetting changes to that timeline when we do actually need time to review and make those changes.

That being said, you can look forward to news about the 2022 release date Soon™!

The World Kneels Before You in Crusader Kings III: Royal Court

The life of a king isn’t all feasting and fighting. The larger the court, the more demands that are placed on the head of a ruler. Vassals and subjects demand audiences, petitions somehow find their way to your throne room, and we haven’t even talked about all the interior decorating. So much fabric. How will you rule your court?

In Crusader Kings III: Royal Court, all of these new challenges confront you, as your courtiers clamor for attention. Royal Court is the first major expansion for Crusader Kings III, Paradox Development Studio’s critically-acclaimed strategy role-playing game about the medieval world. Powerful rulers can establish the kind of court that inspires troubadours, decorating it with relics from family history and favoring subjects with the answers to their many problems.

View the Crusader Kings III: Royal Court Announcement Trailer HERE.

Crusader Kings III: Royal Court includes:

• Throne Room: A visual representation of your royal court will reflect all the accumulated majesty and prestige of your dynasty.
• Hold Court: Interact with vassals and courtiers as they come to you with their problems, seeking a royal judgment.
• Grandeur: Increase the quality of life at your court with fancier trappings and better food, all the better to impress your rivals and attract higher quality guests.
• Inspired People: Talented artists, craftspeople and thinkers can work on new projects, adding treasures and artifacts to your court.
• Hybrid Cultures: Make the most of a multicultural realm, developing a new way of life that is specifically adapted to your population and geography.
• Cultural Divergence: split from your traditional culture, adapting it into something new that better fits your aspirations.

This expansion will be accompanied by a major free update that will include a new culture interface and more.

More game information is available on the official Crusader Kings III website.

Northern Lords Flavor Pack Spotlights Norse and Viking Culture

One of 2020’s most celebrated games gets its first new content today. Crusader Kings III, Paradox Interactive’s strategy role-playing game about medieval dynasties, expands with a new flavor pack highlighting one of the game’s most popular regions.

Northern Lords adds greater depth and variety to the Norse cultures of medieval Europe through a series of new events, options and decisions. With more detail on Norse religion, raiding and internal disputes, this flavor pack is now available at major online retailers and the Paradox Store for $6.99/£5.19/€6.99.

Watch the Crusader Kings III: Northern Lords Release Trailer HERE.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Northern Lords include:

• Norse Adventurer Realms: Norse characters may abandon their own homes and lead hosts into foreign lands to establish their own kingdoms.
• Jomsvikings and Shieldmaidens: Norse holy warriors and stalwart shieldmaidens take up arms on your behalf, while poets can compose stinging rebukes or romantic overtures.
• New Cultural Content: Special Norse dynastic legacies, Norse blot sacrifices, trials by combat and cultural innovations as well as numerous new events add additional color.
• New Art and Music: Original art and musical score to enhance your playing experience.
• And more: Berserkers, missionaries, runestones, Varangian adventurers, new decisions and other highlights from the exciting history of the Norse people.

Crusader Kings III: Northern Lords will be accompanied by a free update that adds harsher winter conditions to the map, as well as character duels and a new poet trait.

More game information is available on the official Crusader Kings III website.

Paradox’s Medieval Grand Strategy Game to Release This Fall

The herald rides forth to make the announcement all have awaited. Court and commoners hold their breath in anticipation. Jealous rivals, thwarted in their plots, sulk in the shadows, for the glorious day is coming. Crusader Kings III, the heir to the crown of grand strategy gaming, will take its throne on September 1, 2020.

Now available for pre-order, Crusader Kings III is a medieval grand strategy role-playing game from Paradox Development Studio. Guide a royal dynasty through the centuries. Claim new lands through diplomacy and marriage, or use your armies to conquer your neighbors or unite a divided realm. When swords and seduction fail, however, spies and poison may still be effective.

Crusader Kings III is the sequel to one of the world’s most beloved strategy games. Rich with new historical content and character options, it has never been easier to wrap yourself in the ermine cloaks of power, writing your own story of castles, knights, crusades, and murder.

Watch the Crusader Kings III – Story Trailer – Real Strategy Requires Cunning trailer HERE.

Features of Crusader Kings III include:

• Character Focused Gameplay: Every character you play or interact with has their own unique personality. Events and options in the game are largely determined by the type of person you are.
• Infinite Possibilities: Play as any noble house from Iceland to India, Finland to Central Africa over five centuries. Interact with wandering guests, stubborn children, devious spymasters and saintly holy men in an elaborate tapestry of medieval life.
• Waging War: Rally your vassals and raise your men-at-arms to besiege enemy castles or put down rebellions. Personal prowess on the battlefield can win you great honor, but strategic planning is the path to victory.
• Royal Marriages: Spread your dynastic DNA throughout the world, stamping your royal seal on the crests of kingdoms and duchies far and wide. Marry for power and raise children to press claims on new lands.
• Saints and Sinners: Keep faith with your religious leaders or perform great crimes in the interest of the state. When the going gets tough, you can always embrace a heresy or craft a new religion more in line with your character’s priorities.
• Schemes and Skulduggery: Learn the secrets of your courtiers and vassals so you can blackmail them for their support. Seduce your way into a superior’s good books, or plot the untimely demise of an unfortunate relative.
• Events Inspired By History: Experience great holy wars, peasant revolts, cadet branches of dynasties, heretics, superstition, castles, knights and wars over inheritance.
• 3D Character Portraits: Characters age and change appearance as their traits take a toll on their body. The higher the rank, the fancier the clothing.
• And much more: Holy Orders, mercenaries, pagan and Viking raiders, easily customized rule sets and a beautiful new map to play on.

Crusader Kings III is available for pre-order at major online retailers and the Paradox store for a suggested retail price of $49.99/ £41.99/ €49.99 and will be available to desktop monarchs on September 1, 2020.

Video First in a Series About the Game’s Development and Design

Paradox Development Studio has released an introduction to an upcoming series of videos about the development of Crusader Kings III. In this opening video, Game Director Henrik Fåhraeus lays out his vision for the game, speaking about his history with the franchise and his aspirations for the upcoming grand strategy game.

Future installments of this video series will include summaries of information revealed in the previous month’s Developer Diaries so people can follow along with the game’s development.

Crusader Kings III is the sequel to Paradox’s beloved medieval strategy role-playing game. It was announced last month at the annual Paradox Convention and is scheduled for release in 2020.

Paradox Announces Sequel to Classic Medieval Grand Strategy Game

The security of a dynasty rests in the quality of its successors. An heir should be strong. An heir should be forward thinking. Heirs should improve on the oversights of their predecessors. But the most successful heirs are those who build on an already secure foundation.

Crusader Kings III is the sequel to the classic Paradox Development Studio game about medieval conquest, intrigue, religion and high drama. It is a firm step in the direction of a new generation of grand strategy games, with new 3D character models and an even more detailed map. Designed to enhance the experience of Paradox veterans while being more welcoming to young squires, Crusader Kings III is a rich setting for an infinite number of new stories.

Crusader Kings III is slated to arrive in 2020, available for PC via Steam and included in Xbox Game Pass for PC. Watch the Crusader Kings III – Announcement Trailer – An Heir is Born HERE.

“Crusader Kings III is a grand medieval simulator where you are free to live out any plausible ruler fantasy that we could think of – but not without challenge.” says Henrik Fåhraeus, the Game Director. “Seeing its predecessor explode in popularity was very satisfying, especially considering that user friendliness was never our primary goal. Now we have a chance to address an even larger audience.”

Crusader Kings III is the ultimate grand strategy role-playing experience.

• Shape Your Dynasty: Guide unique characters through history, choosing lifestyles best suited to their personalities and your ambitions.
• Rewrite Medieval History: Dynasties will change and adapt to changes in family and politics, and religious beliefs are more firmly under your control.
• Build a Mighty Kingdom: Use your vassals’ fear of you as a weapon or call on familial obligations to persuade reluctant relatives to submit.
• Experience High Drama: Stranger than fiction stories leap off the screen, as characters plot against you and events push you to extremes.
• Learn as You Go: Guided advice to help newcomers navigate a rich medieval world. In-game suggestions tip you off to paths you might not have considered.
• The Usual Crusader Kings Fun: Keep a stubborn council in line, scheme against your overbearing uncle or marry the rich duchy…oops, I mean pious duke or duchess of your dreams.

Greater detail about the features of Crusader Kings III will be coming in the next few months.

And, since there is no better time to practice your skills as a ruler, Paradox Development Studios is happy to announce that the base game of Crusader Kings II is now free on all platforms where it can be purchased. CK2 players can also join us on The Monarch’s Journey, a series of custom challenges for the game that will unlock in-game rewards upon completion.

Prepare your trusty steed and rally your banners.The troubadours are ready to sing your songs. The splendor and intrigue of the Middle Ages returns in Crusader Kings III.