Crusader Kings III
Crusader Kings III screenshot 1Crusader Kings III screenshot 2
RPGSimulationStrategyMedievalGrand StrategyHistoricalManagementCharacter Customization

11,073 playing#95 on Steam by players#95 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 19,986

Peak in the last 7 days: 25,350

Crusader Kings III Steam store

Game description

Love, fight, scheme, and claim greatness. Determine your noble house’s legacy in the sprawling grand strategy of Crusader Kings III. Death is only the beginning as you guide your dynasty’s bloodline in the rich and larger-than-life simulation of the Middle Ages.

Basic info

DeveloperParadox Development Studio
PublisherParadox Interactive
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateSep 1, 2020
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows® 10 Home 64 bit
ProcessorIntel Core i5-750 | AMD FX 4300
Memory8 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 | AMD Radeon HD 7870 | Intel Arc A310 | Intel Iris Plus G7 | AMD R…
Storage20 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 405 reviews from the past 1 year

79.7/ 100
Bottom 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (90%)

Metacritic: 91 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 12, 2026)

124 reviews of Crusader Kings III say they enjoy it, a few sharing wild dynastic tales of scheming and murder. It holds 79.7 from 143,193 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

Gameplay ranks 202nd of 1396 and appears in 55% of analyzed reviews. 61 reviews praise an incredible variety of playstyles and roleplay options, and some say every playthrough turns out differently. Story & World ranks 293rd of 1096, and 31 praise the world and setting, and the most upvoted says it explores power as corruption and moral decay. Content Volume ranks 110th of 1351, and players value the freedom to pursue any path and reshape the world.

👎 Where it falls short

Pricing & Fairness ranks 1230th of 1399. 65 reviews complain that core mechanics such as legitimacy sit behind DLC, pushing continuous purchases. 33 warn of a very high learning curve, especially for newcomers unfamiliar with its terms. Tech & Support ranks 1097th of 1399: 23 report repeated crashes after a version update, and others say recent updates raised system requirements and stretched loading times. Some also find one recent mechanic loaded with debuffs and balance issues.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“love letter to the pope, murdered uncle, slept with sister, pretty good game” · 124 reviews
“legitimacy locked behind DLC, forces continuous DLC purchases” · 65 reviews
“incredible variety of playstyles and character roleplay options” · 61 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 55% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.63 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “incredible variety of playstyles and character roleplay options” · 61 reviews
Negative “passive progression and repetitive events break strategy and roleplay depth” · 7 reviews

Progression 6% · Difficulty 4% · Onboarding 21% · Freedom 20% · Controls & feel 2%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 31% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.56 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “game brilliantly explores power as inherent corruption and moral decay” · 31 reviews
Negative “developers don't understand Chinese historical systems, official ranks, and examination mechanics” · 1 review

Story 11% · Characters 7%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +4.13 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “every playthrough different with incredible variety of ways to play” · 17 reviews

Volume 15% · Variety 10%

Graphics, art style, music and sound

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

Visuals +2.82 · Graphics, art style, and animation

Audio 3%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

Community +2.54 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 6% · Servers & Connection 3%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 29% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -0.72 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “legitimacy locked behind DLC, forces continuous DLC purchases” · 65 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 8% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.27 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “no Portuguese translation added in 5 years” · 9 reviews
Positive “recent DLC shows developers love the game and enjoy development” · 1 review

Stability 9% · Performance 8%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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