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), featuring similar gameplay, centred around historical bloodlines and dynasties. The game was released on PC on 1 September 2020 and on the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on 29 March 2022 in most regions. The game received favourable critical attention, and has sold over 4 million copies as of April 2025.
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 begin as a character in either 867, 1066, or 1178, playing as a ruler of certain lands, or a landless character of a certain dynasty or family. The game map is significantly more detailed than in Crusader Kings II, incorporating Europe, parts of Africa, as well as new areas like China, Japan, Indonesia and various neighbouring areas. Each region is separated into many titles of different status, presented in rank descending order: Hegemonies, Empires, Kingdoms, Duchies, Counties and Baronies. Baroniesthe lowest rank of the titleare bound to a certain settlement like cities or tribes; the amount of maximum counties the character should hold is defined by a number known as the "domain limit", exceeding which is fraught with negative effects for the character's entire country. In order to prevent exceeding the domain limit, the player can give any of their held titles to other characters.
Each character has a combination of six skills: Diplomacy, Martial, Stewardship, Intrigue, Learning and Prowess, all defining how good this character is in a corresponding field. Skills can be affected by various traits, like aspects of personality (laziness, greed, arrogance, calmness, etc), education (in certain skill like learning or intrigue, automatically given to all characters when they reach adulthood) and genetically inherited traits (like gigantism, natural poor or strong health, albinism). Each trait might also provide serious changes to the game, affecting many different factors aside from character's skills; making choices that go against a character's traits will increase the character's stress, reaching a certain level of which might result in negative and even lethal outcomes. Characters are also able to select one of six lifestyles to follow, with each lifestyle having three skill trees that allow characters to enhance skills related to that lifestyle.
All counties have their own type of government that can be changed under certain conditions and uniquely affect gameplay: feudal, tribal, wanua, nomadic, ecclesiastical, clan, mandala, meritocratic, celestial, ritsuryō, sōryō or administrative. Republics, herder and theocracies government types exist but are unplayable and used only by non-player characters (NPCs). Every county and character also has a changeable culture or religion bound to them. Each of these concepts is grouped by historical origin and provides certain bonuses for its lands and people. For culture, it is defined by Traditions (single bonuses, like specialisation on a certain terrain or unique society structure) and Ethos (one, total way of life of the culture like 'stoic' or 'communal'), while for religion it is defined by Tenets (practices like megalithic building or asceticism) and Doctrines (stances towards issues like homosexuality and female clergy).
Characters always control at least three types of resources: Prestige, Gold and Piety, with some regional resources like Influence and Treasure being specific for certain government types. Gold is used to build new buildings, buy mercenaries and personal items for the character, hire servants that provide useful bonuses, or host events like hunts or feasts. Prestige is used for various social interactions, sometimes together with gold, as well as for declaring war on other rulers to conquer a certain title. Piety is used for different interactions with religion, including changing and creating new ones.
Upon the death or deposition of a player's character they continue to play as that character's heir unless that character lacks any viable heir in which case the game will end. Overall, players develop a dynasty over the centuries, with the game ending in 1453, though the time limit can be turned off in the settings. The heads of dynasties are able to use a new resource known as Renown to assert their control over their house, as well as unlocking special bonuses that are applied on all members of the dynasty.
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, heavy infantry and cavalry. Characters can make other characters from their court or realm with high combat skills (prowess) into powerful knights.
Unlike preceding games in the series, characters have full-body, 3D-rendered models. These character models can be customised with clothes and headwear by clicking the Barbershop button in the character menu. The characters' models change slightly to represent their age, status, health and traits.
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 and Jomini toolset) with more power to run new features.
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, summarizing all of the changes which have been made in that month's developer diaries.
Downloadable content NameAccompanying PatchTypeRelease dateDescriptionChapter INorthern Lords1.3 "Corvus"Flavor Pack16 March 2021Northern Lords contains additional content pertaining to 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.Royal Court1.5 "Fleur-de-Lis"Major Expansion8 February 2022Royal Court 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. Additional features around artifacts, culture, and liege interactions were also included.Fate of Iberia1.6 "Castle"Flavor Pack31 May 2022Fate of Iberia contains additional content focusing on the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquista. Features include new cultural traditions and culture-specific events and decisions, along with universal mechanics around friend interactions and chess duels.Friends and Foes1.7 "Bastion"Event Pack8 September 2022Friends and Foes contains over 100 additional events surrounding a character's relationships with their friends and rivals. Also includes memories that a character will reminisce over throughout their life.Chapter IITours and Tournaments1.9 "Lance"Major Expansion11 May 2023Tours and Tournaments introduces the travel and grand activities systems as well as allowing rulers to bestow accolades to their knights.Wards and Wardens1.10 "Quill"Event Pack22 August 2023Wards and Wardens adds events surrounding a character's childhood, parenting, and education. Also included are expanded mechanics around eccentric characters, midwifery, and exchanging hostages and wards.Legacy of Persia1.11 "Peacock"Flavor Pack9 November 2023Legacy of Persia expands gameplay in the Persia region, and introduces the Iranian Intermezzo as a featured start date.Chapter IIILegends of the Dead1.12 "Scythe"Core Expansion4 March 2024Legends of the Dead introduces the Black Death and other diseases which spread across the map along with the legend system, allowing characters to build their dynasty's legitimacy by promoting tales about the actions of their ancestors.Roads to Power1.13 "Basileus"Major Expansion24 September 2024Roads to Power introduces the ability to play as a landless character, traveling across the map and taking on contracts as an adventurer. Additional mechanics include new administrative and imperial government mechanics, family estates, and content for the Byzantine Empire.Wandering Nobles1.14 "Traverse"Event Pack4 November 2024Wandering Nobles adds events and activities connected to the travel system.Chapter IVKhans of the Steppe1.16 "Chamfron"Core Expansion28 April 2025Khans of the Steppe introduces new nomadic government mechanics revolving around managing animal herds, establishing dominance among other nomads, and dealing with the changing climate of the Eurasian Steppe through migration. Additional mechanics include Confederations and Tributaries.Coronations1.17 "Ascendant"Event Pack9 September 2025Coronations adds new events and the coronation activity.All Under Heaven1.18 "Crane"Major Expansion28 October 2025All Under Heaven expands the scope of the game's map to include all of Asia, introducing new government types, faiths, and cultural mechanics for regions such as China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Other additions include hegemonies, dynastic cycles, great projects, and administrative treasuries.Chapter VBy God Alone1.20 "Crozier"Core Expansion30 September 2026By God Alone overhauls the game's religious mechanics with many unique elements provided to Christianity, such as archdioceses and the College of Cardinals. Theocratic rulers, such as an archbishop or the Pope, also receive a new playable government type.Silk & SilverMajor ExpansionQ4 2026Silk & Silver adds new government types for republics and merchant companies, along with expanded mechanics for trade and historical Italian events such as the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
Mods Third-party mods for Crusader Kings III are available on the Steam Workshop. These mods can add new game mechanics or make graphical improvements. Some mods include the total conversion mod A Game of Thrones, which is set in the world of the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire; The Fallen Eagle, which changes the game's timeline to the fall of the Western Roman Empire; Warcraft: Guardians of Azeroth 2 (Reforged), which is set in the Warcraft video game series; and Realms in Exile, which is set in the world of the novel The Lord of the Rings.
Release The game was released on 1 September 2020 and is available through Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC. 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 additional content packs and the first expansion.
Crusader Kings III was initially rejected by the Australian Classification Board, reportedly over complications regarding the game's classification. However, the Australian Classification Board denied having contact with Paradox Interactive, who claimed they sought classification through the third party distributor Plaion, formerly Koch Media. The game was eventually cleared and released in Australia six days after its initial release, on 7 September 2020. Because of its delayed release, the pre-order bonus window was extended to 21 September exclusively for Australian Steam users.