Rise of the Merchants

Medieval city builder centered on trade between player settlements

Black Duke Games · Published by Black Duke Games, Three River Games (3RG) · Released Oct 29, 2026 · Early Access

Reviews: Mostly Positive; 74% of 121
Recent reviews: Not enough recent
Players: 133; daily peak, Nov 7, 2026
Steam Deck: Untested
Last update on Steam: 1 day ago; Nov 6, 2026
Minimum PC: R9 285; 8 GB RAM · 6 GB disk; Full requirements

What is Rise of the Merchants?

An Early Access simulation set in a persistent online medieval world, where you grow a small settlement into a trading city. You construct buildings, process raw materials through production chains, and send caravans to trade with NPCs and other players, accounting for terrain, distance, and bandit raids.

For you if...

+you like managing settlers with individual skills and needs
+you enjoy cooperating with friends through trade

Not for you if...

−you want rapid expansion without repeatedly reinvesting your earnings

What players say

74% of 121 reviews are positive

Players praise the trading and economic progression, and some describe the pace as relaxing. Common complaints concern cumbersome screens and convoy management, plus the requirement to stay online even when playing solo.

Screenshots and trailer

Rise of the Merchants system requirements

Minimum: R9 285, 8 GB RAM, 6 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Rise of the Merchants?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

OS: Windows 10, Windows 11
Processor: Intel i5 3470, AMD FX 6350
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 670 GTX or AMD Radeon R9 285 (2 GB of VRAM, Shader Model 5.0)
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Storage: 6 GB available space

Does Rise of the Merchants have co-op or multiplayer?

Yes: co-op online; PvP online. It also has a single-player mode.

Does Rise of the Merchants run on Steam Deck?

Untested Not yet tested by Valve on Steam Deck.

PC version details

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Full controller support
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Achievements: 45
Steam features: Family Sharing
Languages: Full audio: English, German. Text only: French, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Italian, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Ukrainian, Turkish.

Does Rise of the Merchants use AI-generated content?

Yes. The developers disclose AI-generated content on the game's Steam page:

All artwork in our game is handcrafted by us. However, we have developed a custom modular system that uses AI to generate the large variety of settler portraits featured in the game.

The statement mentions: Art

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Nov 2, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam