Stronghold: Warlords

Real-time castle-building strategy with East Asian sieges and recruitable warlords

Firefly Studios · Released Mar 9, 2021

Simulation Strategy

Reviews: Mixed; 65% of 5,326
Recent reviews: Mixed; 61% of 18 in 30 days
Playing now: 26; right now
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 1 year ago; Aug 7, 2025

Free demo available, 0 playing it now: get the demo.

Metacritic: 65/100 (critic reviews)

What is Stronghold: Warlords?

A real-time strategy game set across historical East Asia. You manage castle economies, raise armies, besiege fortifications, and command AI warlords who can provide resources or military support. Campaign missions involve Chinese, Mongol, and Japanese forces, while skirmishes, multiplayer battles, and a Free Build sandbox provide other ways to play.

For you if...

+you enjoy managing resources while building and besieging castles
+you want campaign missions, skirmishes, and sandbox building

Not for you if...

−you want castle building without military pressure
−you need flexible fortification layouts and many defensive options

What players say

65% of 5,326 reviews are positive · 61% of 18 in the last 30 days

Players praise the East Asian setting and the strategic choices involved in commanding warlords. Players complain about crashes and restricted castle-building options; some find it frustrating when AI opponents take warlords through diplomacy.

Screenshots and trailer

Stronghold: Warlords system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7/8/10/11
Processor: Intel i5-3330 3.0Ghz or AMD equivalent
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD7970 (2 GB VRAM)
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Storage: 6 GB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Notes: Stronghold: Warlords - Special Edition requires 9 GB of available space

OS: Windows 7/8/10/11 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz or AMD equivalent
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Storage: 6 GB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Notes: Stronghold: Warlords - Special Edition requires 9 GB of available space

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows
Achievements: 102
Steam features: Workshop, Cloud saves, Family Sharing, Trading cards

Steam Deck: Playable

Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

Multiplayer and co-op

Languages

Full audio: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese. Text only: Italian, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese - Brazil, Thai, Vietnamese.