Crusader Kings III

Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy role-playing game from Paradox Development Studio. Instead of steering just one state, you guide a dynasty through several generations. Rulers age, heirs take over titles and personal relationships shift the political situation.

War, diplomacy, marriage, religion, intrigue and administration interlock, turning every campaign into an ongoing family history.

Crusader Kings III first released on September 1, 2020 for PC. The native console versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series followed on March 29, 2022.

Paradox has continued to expand the game since then. On PC, the Core Expansion By God Alone has been available since September 30, 2026; at the same time, the free 1.20.0 update “Crozier” was released.

The base game is available natively for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The console versions were adapted together with Lab42 for controllers and the respective hardware.

The content roadmaps for PC and console do not always run at the same time. New PC expansions should therefore not automatically be understood as a simultaneous console release.

At the centre are rulers and their families. You hand out titles, raise heirs, arrange marriages, build claims on territories and decide whether conflicts are resolved through diplomacy, war or intrigue.

When a ruler dies, an heir takes over. Inheritance law, vassal structure, religion, culture and personal relationships can fundamentally change the realm and make for long campaigns spanning many generations.

Crusader Kings III has a long-term expansion plan with major expansions, Core Expansions and smaller Event, Flavor, Music and Cosmetic packs. Many of them deepen individual regions or government systems, while free updates change core systems in parallel.

The current Steam version lists a minimum of a Core i5-750 or AMD FX-4300, 8 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 660, Radeon HD 7870 or comparable Intel graphics on Windows. Recommended are, among others, a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 1600X, 16 GB RAM and a GTX 970, RX 480 or Intel Arc A580.

For installation, 20 GB of free storage space is currently listed.

By God Alone is a Core Expansion for Crusader Kings III and has been available on PC since September 30, 2026. It expands religion and church politics with playable theocratic rulers, ecumenical councils, a College of Cardinals, archdioceses, dynamic holy sites and cathedrals.

For Christian realms, the expansion introduces a long-term church situation with shifting phases. Catalysts such as excommunications, new rites, heresies, cardinal appointments or ecumenical councils change its course and can lead to the Great Schism.

Silk & Silver is released for PC on November 17, 2026. The expansion introduces playable trading families, trade routes with more than 40 goods and merchant republics.

Merchants can work as caravan traders, moneylenders or craftsmen, build monopolies and use their wealth to gain political influence. In republics, patrician families compete for offices and vote on laws in assemblies. Trade leagues connect multiple republics.

Silk & Silver is part of Chapter V and requires Crusader Kings III.