''Crusader Kings III'' is a

grand strategy Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resource ...

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

set in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, developed by

Paradox Development Studio Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa U ...

and published by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independen ...

as a sequel to '' Crusader Kings'' (2004) and ''

Crusader Kings II ''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On ...

'' (2012). The game was released on PC on 1 September 2020 and on the

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

and

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...

on 29 March 2022.

Gameplay

Like its predecessors ''Crusader Kings'' and ''Crusader Kings II'', ''Crusader Kings III'' is a grand strategy game and dynasty simulator set in the

. Players begin as a character in either 867 or 1066. The game map is about four times more detailed than the one in ''Crusader Kings II'' and slightly larger, incorporating Europe, Africa roughly as far south as the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, and Asia as far East as

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. Upon the death or deposition of a player's character they may continue to play as that character's heir. Overall, players develop a dynasty over the centuries, with the game ending in 1453. Dynasties can form

cadet branches In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

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 houses are responsible for legitimizing

bastard Bastard may refer to: Parentage * Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents ** Bastard (law of England and Wales), illegitimacy in English law People People with the name * Bastard (surname), including a list of people with that na ...

s. Characters have full-body, 3D-rendered character models instead of 2D portraits. 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. The game's genetics system allows characters to pass on some of their characteristics to their descendants. 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. Characters are able to select one of five lifestyles to follow. Each lifestyle has three

skill tree This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

s that allow characters to enhance skills related to that lifestyle. Players' realms may have the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

, or

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

government types. Religion and culture are both aspects of the game. Leaders can advance their goals by warfare, diplomacy, or subterfuge. Players may undergo

pilgrimages A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

and wage

holy wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, and entire religions can be called to arms in

crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

or jihads. 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. The principal resource for interacting with religion mechanics is Piety, and a player with sufficient piety may choose to develop their own

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, with the Tenets and Doctrines being chosen by the player. Levies are represented primarily by low-quality infantry composed of

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s. Characters will need to hire

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a knig ...

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 powerful

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

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 Paradox Development Studio (PDS) is a Swedish video game developer founded in 1995. It is closely associated with its parent company and video game publisher, Paradox Interactive. It is best known for its grand strategy wargame series ''Europa ...

+ 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, summarising all of the changes which have been made in that month's Dev Diaries.

Release

The game was released on 1 September 2020 and is available through

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

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 The Australian Classification Board (ACB or CB) is an Australian government statutory body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, video games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia. The ACB was establis ...

, 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 2020. Because of its delayed release, the pre-order bonus window was extended to 21 September exclusively for Australian Steam users. A console version of the game was released on

and

Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...

on 29 March 2022. The game was made available on Xbox Game Pass on the same day.

Expansions

Reception

''Crusader Kings III'' received "generally favorable" reviews for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

; the PC version received "universal acclaim". Leana Hafer of ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' wrote that the game "is a superb strategy game, a great RPG, and a master class in how to take the best parts of existing systems and make them deeper and better"; scoring it 10/10 in her review. Lauren Aitken from ''

VG247 ''VG247'' is a video game blog published in the United Kingdom, founded in February 2008 by industry veteran Patrick Garratt. In 2009, CNET ranked it as the third best gaming blog in the world. History Founded in collaboration on 1 February 2 ...

'' also gave the game a perfect score; in her review, she wrote, "''Crusader Kings 3'' is just as bonkers, unpredictable and enthralling as its predecessor." David Wildgoose of ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' praised the procedural narratives of the game saying that they are rarely as affecting and poignant as they are here; on the other hand, as a negative point, he wrote that "when the story engine isn't firing, your actions can feel rote and uninspired". In December 2020, ''Crusader Kings III'' was nominated in the Best Sims/Strategy Games category at

The Game Awards The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who worked on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards, ...

but lost to ''

Microsoft Flight Simulator ''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed sig ...

''. The game sold more than 1 million copies within 1 month of release. It was the seventh best-selling game in September 2020 in the US, and had the highest launch month sales for any Paradox Interactive title. In March 2022, Paradox Interactive announced that ''Crusader Kings III'' had sold over 2 million units worldwide.

Notes

References

External links

Official Crusader Kings website

Crusader Kings III Developer DiariesOfficial Wiki for Crusader Kings III
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