Stronghold 4

Stronghold 4 is the next main entry in the Stronghold series and is designed as a story prequel to the first game. Firefly Studios returns to medieval England for this. The focus is once again on castle building, economy, population and siege warfare, this time within a more staged campaign.

The story follows Penryn of Wethel, whose life as a shepherd falls apart and who must rise to become a commander. Firefly lists 22 missions for the campaign and combines new characters with familiar faces from the series.

Stronghold 4 is set to enter Early Access on Steam on Dec 7, 2026. Firefly Studios announced the exact date on Oct 8. For now, no completed version 1.0 has been announced. The developer expects the early phase to last around six months, but stresses that the duration depends on development progress and feedback.

The Early Access launch already plans a story campaign with 22 missions, a full skirmish mode with eight different AI lords, a Skirmish Trail and free castle building. For the full release, Firefly mentions online multiplayer, co-op in the Skirmish Trail and a separate economy campaign, among other things.

The free Steam demo was expanded with new Free Build content on Oct 8. From Oct 19, 2026, a playable skirmish section is also set to be added during the Steam Next Fest. This is an announced date for the demo expansion, not for the full game.

So far, PC via Steam is the only confirmed platform. A console version is not currently announced. For the Early Access launch, the Steam page initially lists single-player content; multiplayer and co-op are planned for version 1.0.

The core principle remains the classic Stronghold mix of castle economy and military siege. Players manage food, taxes, honour and other resources, keep the population happy and build their fortress with functional and decorative elements.

For battles, Firefly promises larger maps, new tactical military buildings and units, and the return of familiar tools such as moats and tunnelers. Weather directly affects the systems: snow can slow crop growth, and heavy rain can reduce the range of archers.

The features trailer shown at the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2026 focuses on skirmish mode. Firefly shows battles with up to seven CPU opponents at once, a total of 14 battlefields and eight different AI lords. The castles range from compact wooden fortifications to complex stone complexes.

In the expanded Free Build demo, you can build castles on a particularly large map. Firefly shows, among other things, moats, production chains for wool and weaving, and the Captain as a powerful late-game unit. The skirmish part of the demo is only planned for Oct 19. The sandbox is intended to later reflect the economic and military decisions of the full version, without every demo feature already being considered final.

Stronghold 4 initially gets an early access. Firefly has described concrete differences between the launch version and the later full version: while the campaign, AI skirmishes and Free Build are set to be available from December, online multiplayer, a cooperative Skirmish Trail and an economy campaign are part of the outlook for 1.0.

This roadmap is not an already delivered DLC announcement and does not include confirmed paid expansions. The exact date of the full version remains open.

For the current PC version, Steam lists at least Windows 10 or 11 in 64-bit, an Intel Core i5-4670 or a comparable AMD model, 16 GB RAM and a GeForce GTX 1060 with 3 GB. Recommended are, among others, a Core i5-7600 and a GeForce RTX 2060 with 6 GB. Both profiles provide for 33 GB of storage; an SSD is recommended.