Crusader Kings III News

• As King or Emperor, watch as your personal throne room comes to life with the vast range of drama and intrigue of your court. Step into a fully 3D realized space, available in one of four major cultural visual styles, and fill it with regalia and majesty.
  
• Harsh or benevolent, pass judgment on those seeking arbitration. Hold court and watch as your courtiers scheme and vie for your attention.
  
• Match yourself against your greatest rival with your court’s grandeur. Or fail to impress them and suffer the sad diplomatic consequences of bad taste.
  

• Show off your exquisitely crafted relics, or focus on your noble house’s history with your family heirlooms. A whole range of new artifacts can be admired in the series’ return of the inventory system.
  
• Talented craftspeople, from jewelers to weavers, can be employed on special projects, adding even more unique items to your domain.
  
• Commission special great works of art or win artifacts in battle. Be careful, as they can just as easily be lost in a botched duel or rival’s scheme.
  

• A greatly overhauled Culture system lies ready at your fingertips. Major new Cultural Traditions allow you to significantly change the way you play, from choosing the right benefits due to your realm’s terrain to giving your military new bonuses. Determine your heritage through Cultural Pillars or have your subjects learn new languages.
  
• Create a truly dynamic melting pot through the new Hybridisation feature, mixing and matching the defining traits of your people into a unique cultural fusion. Become a great Bedouin conqueror who merges with freshly subjugated people or follow the adventurous Norse ruler who came to adopt the local Sri Lankan ways.
  
• Witness your realm’s culture evolve with the new Divergence feature, with the hands of time subtly transform a single cultural strand into smaller sub-cultures. Shape it as you see fit, or sow the seeds of change, and watch as one monolithic culture grows into a collection of many different people.
  

Greetings from Gowrie, where I, King Malcolm III of Scotland, have been reigning from atop the Stone of Scone for the past ten years. Sure, we're frequently attacked by Norwegian raiders and I'm at war with Karaldr Gudrosson, the petty king who I've been trying to dislodge from the Hebrides for as long as I can remember, but we've got the fanciest accommodations and finest clothes on the entire island. Make yourself at home, admire the tattered war banners on the wall, and learn all about Royal Court, the new major expansion for the feudal grand strategy game Crusader Kings III.

This DLC has been a long time coming, and it's not hard to see why. The Royal Court adds a lot more than a nested dollhouse for your medieval lordlings and courtiers to stand around in, although the new dynamic throne room is a delight. The expansion also overhauls Crusader Kings III's culture system, providing a wealth of new considerations about how to go about settling in new lands or forging alliances.

Starting out as King Malcolm, I get to see the new royal court screen right away - it's locked to characters below the kingdom level. The throne room is a place where I can see the characters in my court, hear petitioners, and perhaps most importantly, find new opportunities to manage my ruler's stress level.

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