Crusader Kings III

Medieval grand strategy where dynasties outlive their rulers

Paradox Development Studio · Published by Paradox Interactive · Released Sep 1, 2020

Reviews: Very Positive; 90% of 144K
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 89% of 805 in 30 days
Playing now: 13K; peak 24h 14K
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 3 months ago; May 25, 2026

What is Crusader Kings III?

Crusader Kings III is a medieval grand strategy and role-playing sandbox in which you control successive rulers of a noble dynasty. Across a large map, you manage titles and vassals, arrange marriages, conduct diplomacy and schemes, raise armies, and prepare heirs to continue the house after each ruler dies.

For you if...

+you enjoy dynastic role-playing and emergent political drama
+you like managing realms through diplomacy, intrigue, and war
+you want a replayable sandbox with many possible rulers

Not for you if...

−you prefer short, linear campaigns with a fixed protagonist
−you dislike dense strategy systems and detailed realm management

What players say

90% of 143,853 reviews are positive · 89% of 805 in the last 30 days

Players praise the emergent political and family stories, character-focused dynasty play, and mod scene. The dominant complaint is the volume and price of DLC, with players saying too much content and some important mechanics are locked behind expansions. Some also report frequent multiplayer desynchronization and worsening memory use on lower- and mid-range systems.

Screenshots and trailer

Crusader Kings III system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows® 10 Home 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-750 | AMD FX 4300
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 | AMD Radeon HD 7870 | Intel Arc A310 | Intel Iris Plus G7 | AMD Radeon Vega 11
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Storage: 20 GB available space