While we were saddened to learn that the first major Crusader Kings 3 DLC – Royal Court – had been delayed into next year, we suspected something like this could happen when the developers previously admitted that things were taking longer than expected. But that’s all in the past, because now we have a new release date for Crusader Kings III: Royal Court. And there was much rejoicing.
We’ve been covering bits and pieces from the new expansion and free patch for a while now, but here’s a recap of what you’ll get from Royal Court itself. The headline feature is the royal court – characters who hold a King or Emperor rank will get access to a special 3D throne room where you can engage with courtiers and supplicants, and show off your various trinkets and artefacts. Characters of a lower rank can still go to someone else’s throne room, and there are special court events that open up a whole new area of emergent stories.
On top of this, there’s a new ‘resource’ to look after called grandeur. It’s not about being good, you’ve got to look the part, and making your court more grandiose is naturally going to earn you kudos from your peers.
Here’s a new trailer breaking down all of the key features in Royal Court:
And we’ve also been sent some new screens, which show off various aspects in more detail than what we’ve seen previously:
The Royal Court DLC also comes with culture mechanics that will sit on top of the free culture rework. If you purchase the expansion, you’ll be able to create new cultures by either diverging from your starting culture, or merging two cultures together into a new hybrid culture. There’s plenty more coming in the free patch as well.
Crusader Kings III: Royal Court will release on February 8, 2022, on PC via Steam and the Paradox Store.