The security of a dynasty rests in the quality of its successors. An heir should be strong. An heir should be forward thinking. Heirs should improve on the oversights of their predecessors. But the most successful heirs are those who build on an already secure foundation.

Crusader Kings III is rich with new historical content and character options, it has never been easier to wrap yourself in the ermine cloaks of power, writing your own story of castles, knights, crusades, and murder.

Guide a royal dynasty through the centuries. Claim new lands through diplomacy and marriage, or use your armies to conquer your neighbors or unite a divided realm. When swords and seduction fail, however, spies and poison may still be effective.

Crusader Kings III is a firm step in the direction of a new generation of grand strategy games, with new 3D character models and an even more detailed map. Designed to enhance the experience of Paradox veterans while being more welcoming to young squires, Crusader Kings III is a rich setting for an infinite number of new stories.

Prepare your trusty steed and rally your banners.The troubadours are ready to sing your songs. The splendor and intrigue of the Middle Ages returns in Crusader Kings III.

Court and commoners hold their breath in anticipation. Jealous rivals, thwarted in their plots, sulk in the shadows, for the glorious day is coming.

Major changes are coming to Crusader Kings III on consoles with the release of the major expansion, Roads to Power. Developed by Room 8 Group in partnership with Paradox Interactive, this add-on greatly expands the role-playing opportunities for Crusader Kings III players on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles by adding a new government type, as well as an entirely new way for your character to experience the medieval world.

On 11 May, your Crusader Kings III character can be a wandering adventurer, tied to no land, but seeking fame and fortune as a mercenary soldier or contractor performing tasks that the nobles are too busy to handle themselves. Build up your camp, seek new adventurers abroad and, maybe, use your accumulated wealth and power to claim a kingdom as your own.

 

Roads to Power also opens up the Bureaucratic Empire government, based on the Byzantine Empire’s system of appointed governors, not the landed vassals of the west. Build a noble estate and compete for power and imperial appointments, undermining your rivals and establishing a power base that can survive a few years out of office.

Key Features:

• Administrative Government: Experience medieval rule outside of the feudal system with a new style of empire management. A web of Governors jockeys for position in the empire with intrigue and power, sometimes rewarding merit and sometimes rewarding perfidy. Only a truly skilled Emperor can keep these squabbling forces in line.
• The Family Estate: Run and manage a powerful Family Estate, the seat of your House’s power, even when you hold no other land. Construct new buildings and improvements to further your power and influence within an administrative empire.
• Influence System: Build up a character’s influence within an administrative empire to climb the rungs of bureaucracy. Raise your status in the realm and gather more power for yourself. Start as a landless noble on an estate, and compete for valuable provinces to govern before making your bid for the Purple.
• A Life of Adventure: Freely roam the map, untied to any realm or holding, going wherever the winds of fortune blow you. Fulfill contracts as a landless adventurer, even through the generations, building up a reputation of your own. Earn gold, prestige and fame travelling the globe until you decide to settle down and claim land you have earned through merit.
• Choose Successor or Caesar: Spend the influence you have gathered to determine the course of the Empire and get the successor you want, whether a royal family member, a powerful noble, a martial hero, or any other candidate you can rally the people behind. The Emperor can even opt to co-rule if the burden of the throne is too much for one person.
• New Byzantine Flavor Content: New events, monuments and activities built around the Byzantine theme, including chariot racing.
• Cosmetic Additions: A Byzantine-themed UI skin and new court fashions for your characters, new 2D event art, new on-map monuments of the Byzantine world, new on-map holding designs, and a Byzantine throne room for Royal Court sessions, among other aesthetic improvements. New music inspired by Orthodox holy chants is also included.

The 11 May release of Roads to Power will be accompanied by the release of the event pack Wandering Nobles, a new collection of events that are themed around travel. Have new adventures on the road as you make your way on pilgrimage or while you trek across the kingdom to visit your subjects.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Wandering Nobles include:

• New Wandering Lifestyle with three new branches:
  • Inspector: Landed characters can survey and improve their realm, Landless characters can seek environmental specialization.
  • Wayfarer: Travel to reduce stress and pursue fame for your exploits.
  • Voyager: Improve linguistic skills and live the life of a tourist and sightseer.
• New Activities designed for the new Lifestyle branches:
  • Inspection: Inspectors can examine their realm and pursue improvements
  • Hike: Wayfarers can reduce stress with a walk in the wilderness.
  • Monument Expedition: Voyagers can set forth to see special buildings in other realms
• New Events connected to travel, the new lifestyles and the associated activities.

Crusader Kings III: Roads to Power and Crusader Kings III: Wandering Nobles will be available on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 consoles on 11 May 2026.

Key Features:

• Character Focused Gameplay: Every character you play or interact with has their own unique personality. Events and options in the game are largely determined by the type of person you are.
• Infinite Possibilities: Play as any noble house from Iceland to India, Finland to Central Africa over five centuries. Interact with wandering guests, stubborn children, devious spymasters and saintly holy men in an elaborate tapestry of medieval life.
• Waging War: Rally your vassals and raise your men-at-arms to besiege enemy castles or put down rebellions. Personal prowess on the battlefield can win you great honor, but strategic planning is the path to victory.
• Royal Marriages: Spread your dynastic DNA throughout the world, stamping your royal seal on the crests of kingdoms and duchies far and wide. Marry for power and raise children to press claims on new lands.
• Saints and Sinners: Keep faith with your religious leaders or perform great crimes in the interest of the state. When the going gets tough, you can always embrace a heresy or craft a new religion more in line with your character’s priorities.
• Schemes and Skulduggery: Learn the secrets of your courtiers and vassals so you can blackmail them for their support. Seduce your way into a superior’s good books, or plot the untimely demise of an unfortunate relative.
• Events Inspired By History: Experience great holy wars, peasant revolts, cadet branches of dynasties, heretics, superstition, castles, knights and wars over inheritance.
• 3D Character Portraits: Characters age and change appearance as their traits take a toll on their body. The higher the rank, the fancier the clothing.
• And much more: Holy Orders, mercenaries, pagan and Viking raiders, easily customized rule sets and a beautiful new map to play on.

Crusader Kings III is available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam and Xbox Game Pass) at $49.99/ £41.99/ €49.99.