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Crusader Kings III

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Crusader Kings III
Developer(s)Paradox Development Studio[a]
Publisher(s)Paradox Interactive
Director(s)Henrik Fåhraeus
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, macOS, Linux
  • WW: September 1, 2020
  • AU: September 7, 2020[1]
  • PS5, Xbox Series X/S
  • WW: TBA
Genre(s)Grand strategy, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy role-playing video game set in the Middle Ages, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive as a sequel to Crusader Kings (2004) and Crusader Kings II (2012). The game was released on PC on 1 September 2020 and is coming to the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 in the future.[2]

Gameplay

Like its predecessors Crusader Kings and Crusader Kings II, Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy game and dynasty simulator set in the Middle Ages. Players can choose a start date of either 867 or 1066 and play until 1453.[3][4][5] Dynasties can form cadet branches that have their own heads and act mostly independently from their parent dynasty. The heads of dynasties are able to use a new resource known as Renown to assert their control over their house. For example, the heads of dynasties are responsible for legitimizing bastards.[6]

Characters have full-body, 3D-rendered character models instead of 2D portraits.[7] As in Crusader Kings II, they have traits that affect their stats and behavior. Making choices that go against a character's traits will increase that character's stress.[8] The game's genetics system allows characters to pass on some of their characteristics to their descendants.[9] Characters are able to frighten their vassals into staying loyal by increasing their Dread, which increases when the character performs malevolent actions, such as executing or torturing other characters.[10] Characters are able to select one of five lifestyles to follow. Each lifestyle has three skill trees that allow characters to enhance skills related to that lifestyle.[11]

All religions and almost all government types are playable, though merchant republics and theocracies were not playable at launch.[12] Most leaders in the game adhere to the feudal, tribal, or clan government types. Nomads are portrayed as tribal instead of having their own government type.[8] Religions have Tenets, which are bonuses given to all practitioners of that faith, and Doctrines, which deal with the religion's stances towards issues like homosexuality and female clergy.[8] Players are able to develop their own heresies, with the Tenets and Doctrines being chosen by the player. The more a heresy deviates from its original faith, the more Piety it will cost to create it.[7]

The game map is about four times more detailed than the one in Crusader Kings II and slightly larger.[13] Holdings are depicted directly on the map, meaning armies will need to move around the map to besiege each sub-holding within a county, which is a change from previous renditions. The average number of holdings per county is about three. Some of these holdings will start out undeveloped (though they will still have an "owner") and can be built in later.[8]

Levies are represented primarily by low-quality infantry composed of peasants. Characters will need to hire men-at-arms in order to field higher-quality soldiers, such as crossbowmen and cavalry. Characters can make other characters from their court or realm with significant combat skills into knights, which are extremely powerful; 20 knights are roughly equal to 200 peasant levies.[8]

Development

Game director Henrik Fåhraeus commented that development of the game commenced "about 1 year before Imperator", indicating a starting time of 2015. Describing the game engine of Crusader Kings II as cobbled and "held together with tape", he explained that the new game features an updated engine (i.e. Clausewitz Engine + Jomini toolset) with more power to run new features.[12]

As is the case with many of Paradox's unreleased and currently supported works, the developers publish a weekly developer diary. Each post focuses on a single aspect of the game, such as government types, user interface, governments, war, etc., how this aspect of the game will be handled in Crusader Kings III, and how it is different from Crusader Kings II. A monthly update video is also published on the Paradox Interactive YouTube channel, summarising all of the changes which have been made in that month's Dev Diaries.

The game was released on 1 September 2020 and is available through Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC.[12][14] The game is available in two editions: the Base Game Edition, which includes the base game and a pre-order bonus, and the Royal Edition, which includes the base game and an expansion pass. The expansion pass contains a collection of flavour packs and the first content pack, which is not yet revealed.[15]

Crusader Kings III was initially rejected by the Australian Classification Board, reportedly over complications regarding the game's classification. The game was eventually cleared and released within Australia six days after its initial release, on 7 September. Because of its delayed release, the pre-order bonus window was extended to 21 September exclusively for Australian Steam users.[16][17]

Expansions

Expansions timeline
2021Northern Lords
2022
2023
TBARoyal Court
Name Accompanying Patch Type Release Date Description
Northern Lords 1.3 Flavor Pack 16 March 2021 Contains additional content mainly pertaining to the Viking Age Scandinavia including the ability to form adventurer realms, access to holy warriors and shield-maidens, unique dynastic legacies, and culture-specific events and decisions.[18]
Royal Court TBA Expansion TBA The first expansion gives players a customizable throne room in which to welcome people to court. It also allows players to decorate the room in order to gain more Grandeur, a feature introduced in the expansion, which, when increased, will give access to higher quality guests.[19]

Reception

Upon release, the game was met with universal acclaim according to review aggregator Metacritic.[24]

The game sold more than 1 million copies within 1 month of release.[25]

In December 2020, Crusader won the The Game Awards in the Best Strategy/Tactics Games category.[26]

Notes

  1. ^ Console versions developed in partnership with Lab42 Games

References

  1. ^ Williams, Leah (7 September 2020). "Crusader Kings 3 Officially Gets MA15+ Rating And Can Be Sold In Australia". Kotaku. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. ^ Williams, Leah (24 August 2021). "Crusader Kings 3 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X". Polygon. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ Brown, Fraser (28 October 2019). "Crusader Kings 3: Everything we know". PC Gamer. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Best CK3 3 start guide: the top characters for interesting starts". PCGamesN. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Crusader Kings 3 End Year | What date is the game over?". GameRevolution. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  6. ^ Scott-Jones, Richard (23 October 2019). "Here's how cadet houses will work in Crusader Kings 3". PCGamesN. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Fraser (23 October 2019). "Crusader Kings 3 will let you become the pope of your own cannibal cult". PC Gamer. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e Hafer, T.J. (23 October 2019). "Paradox Answers 12 Major Questions About Crusader Kings 3". USGamer. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Crusader Kings 3 is happening: here's ten things we know so far". Rock Paper Shotgun. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  10. ^ Scott-Jones, Richard (23 October 2019). "Crusader Kings 3 adds 'dread' to let you role-play as King Joffrey". PCGamesN. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  11. ^ Bailey, Dustin (23 October 2019). "Level up in Crusader Kings 3 to remove the bonds of sexual preference". PCGamesN. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  12. ^ a b c Crusader Kings 3 - PDXCON Berlin keynote, retrieved 23 October 2019
  13. ^ 10 Major Changes Coming With Crusader Kings 3 (PDXCON 2019), retrieved 26 October 2019
  14. ^ Pereira, Chris (31 August 2020). "Crusader Kings 3 Finally Releases On Tuesday". GameSpot. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  15. ^ "Crusader Kings III Pre-order". Crusader Kings III. Retrieved 20 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Crusader Kings III available today for Australian players!". Steam. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Crusader Kings 3 Officially Gets MA15+ Rating And Can Be Sold In Australia". Kotaku. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Brown, FraseR (14 March 2021). "Crusader Kings 3 is heading north for its first DLC, coming next week". PC Gamer. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  19. ^ Acebedo, Bayani (25 May 2021). "Crusader Kings III Announces Upcoming Expansion: Royal Court". whatoplay. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Crusader Kings III for PC Reviews". Metacritic. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  21. ^ Hafer, T.J. (31 August 2020). "Crusader Kings III Review". IGN. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  22. ^ Brown, Fraser (31 August 2020). "Crusader Kings III Review". PC Gamer US. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  23. ^ Wildgoose, David (1 September 2020). "Crusader Kings 3 Review – Lifetime Achievement". GameSpot. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  24. ^ "Crusader Kings III for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  25. ^ Kerr, Chris (17 November 2020). "Paradox reports record quarterly revenues as Crusader Kings III sales top 1 million". Gamasutra. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  26. ^ Tassi, Paul (11 December 2020). "Here's The Game Awards 2020 Winners List With A Near-Total 'Last Of Us' Sweep". Forbes.
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