Crusader Kings III
Your ruler in Crusader Kings III is mortal, but the dynasty can last for centuries. You pick a character in 867, 1066 or 1178, and when they die you carry on as their heir. No heir means game over. The game runs until 1453, but that limit can be switched off.
Read more
Personality matters a lot. Force a lazy or greedy ruler to act against their nature and they build up stress, which at high levels can end badly, even in death. You can also found your own faith, ritual cannibalism included, if you have the piety for it.
The game director described the second game's engine as held together with tape, so the third was built on an updated one. It sold over a million copies in its first month, the best launch in Paradox's history, and more than 4 million by April 2025.
On PC it earned universal acclaim from critics, and IGN and VG247 gave it a perfect score. One reviewer, though, felt that when the story engine isn't firing, actions can feel rote and uninspired. Critics give it 91 on Metacritic, and players leave 90% positive reviews out of 94,090. In our Recommended Score it ranks 179 of 4,736 games.
Enjoyed it? Try Crusader Kings II, the previous game, whose base version went free in October 2019, and Europa Universalis IV, where Paradox puts you in charge of a whole nation through trade, colonies and wars.
Major updates
Now Available: By God Alone & 1.20.0 "Crozier" Update · Sep 2026All 5
System requirements
Minimum GTX 660 · 8 GB RAM · 20 GBiSteam Deck PlayableMin & recommended
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows® 10 Home 64 bit | Windows® 10 Home 64 bit or Windows® 11 |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-750 | AMD FX 4300 | Intel Core i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 1600X |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 | AMD Radeon HD 7870 | Intel Arc A310 | Intel Iris Plus G7 | AMD Radeon Vega 11 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 480 | Intel Arc A580 |
| Storage | 20 GB | 20 GB |
From the game’s Steam store page.
