What changed in Crusader Kings III in 2026

Religious rites that can be declared heretical, affecting power and wealth.

New system affecting characters' spiritual life and relationships with God.

New core expansion releasing on September 30th, focusing on religious life and authority.

Centers of research and theological power providing bonuses to their hosts.

New clerical titles with authority over regions independent of secular rulers.

Secular rulers can puppet clerical characters to act on their behalf.

Revisions to the tenet system focusing on characters' relationships to their faith.

A potential event in the 867 game start leading to a split in Christianity.

A persistent situation for Christian realms allowing participation in Ecumenical Councils.

The Pope can appoint cardinals, with influence from secular rulers.

Control landed realms headed by an archbishop or the Pope, gaining new resources of power.

Cathedrals can become focal points for reverence of saints, leading to Holy Sites.

Faiths can change their holy sites dynamically over time.

Catalysts can be triggered by any eligible Christian ruler, influencing the progression of Chapters.

The Catholic head of faith can enact bulls to steer the Church, with significant piety costs and cooldowns.

Seven Chapters named after eras of Church history, each with distinct effects on gameplay.

Secular rulers gain a free Humiliation casus belli and easier claim requests; clergy siphon treasury more effectively.

Crisis deepens with cheaper indulgences and ecumenical councils; Great Schism is created automatically at this Chapter's close.

The Pope can select a target for a Great Holy War, with looser requirements during the Crusade Phase.

A new Situation that tracks the spiritual health of Christendom across seven different Chapters.

The Pope can elevate or prohibit tenets within the rite, affecting fervor and doctrine.

Holy war cooldowns are cleared; hiring Holy Orders and bulls are cheaper; secular rulers gain access to cheaper religious wars.

The Pope may issue a bull condemning a diverged rite, creating a new heretical faith.

The Main Power faith is recalculated whenever county faith changes across Christendom, influencing the Church's phases.

Main Power faith converts counties 50% faster; clergy gain extra scheme slots and bulls are half price.

Excommunications are cheaper; Main Power secular rulers gain cultural head fascination.

Secular rulers may appoint Court Chaplains without papal approval; clerical appointment interactions are cheaper.

Grand Cathedral construction is faster; church and domicile building costs fall; heads of faith lift excommunications more willingly.

The Landless Adventurer character type will be unlocked for everyone with the free update accompanying Silk & Silver.

Landless Adventurers will no longer be tied to the Roads to Power DLC, allowing for more content development independently.

Fixed an issue where the side buttons in the Character Panel wouldn't display correctly after loading a multiplayer save.

Characters at their concubine limit can now offer concubines to other characters.

AI characters can now upgrade their knight accolades.

Fixed an issue where the Legendary Hunt Story Cycle would not start despite starting a legendary hunt.

The Iberian Dominance ending can no longer be repeated infinitely for unlimited renown.

Rites of Passage no longer refunds gold or prestige when cancelled.

Your infidelity will no longer be broadcasted to everyone as it happens.

Fixed an issue preventing “The Song of El Cid” Story Cycle from being finished.

Japan now shows the correct title and government type when selecting a starting character.

Characters in a travel entourage now reset to their original location if their travel plan is cancelled.

Administrative rulers from the Renewed Caliphate ending now correctly get the Subjugation CB.

purchase_land_interaction now only allows duchy targets when the seller completely controls that duchy.

Fixed bug where using the 'Purchase Land' interaction as Landless would not distribute the land properly to the purchaser.

Custom title names are no longer reset to default in Title History after a ruler’s death.

The panel can no longer be moved.

Resolved issues with Lunatic and Depressed traits firing too often.

Fixed issue with clothing not displaying correctly when using the color picker.

This pack includes new crowns and headwear for European characters, inspired by historical figures.

The Chapter V Expansion Pass includes one Major Expansion, one Core Expansion, one Music Pack, and one Cosmetic Clothing Pack.

Focuses on the religious life of characters, emphasizing new systems for Christian characters.

Focuses on medieval trade and merchant families, allowing players to play as a merchant family.

Offers thirteen songs, a mix of remasters of Crusader Kings classics and adaptations of traditional European music.

New mechanics for influencing Papal elections based on candidate tracks and theological alignments.

A new character metric that tracks how internally fulfilled a character is in their religious practice.

Many new Tenets are being added and existing ones reimagined as active observances.

New geographic layer representing archdiocese and patriarchate regions.

New features allow players to see the religious landscape at both faith and rite levels.

Faiths will evolve organically based on character interactions, traits, tenets, and rites.

A new scheme that allows players to learn and adopt doctrines from other religious practices.

The Church Treasury is now separate from personal wealth and can be spent on Church business.

New subdivisions of faith that represent local variations in religious practice.

Creating a new Faith now involves shaping beliefs within the current faith and nurturing divergent Rites.

A new interface to track story cycles and improve gameplay experience.

Resolved issues with AI targeting for nomadic invasions.

Changes to AI nomads to ensure herders remain in the game world.

Added a game rule to customize the representation of Elder Traits.

A smaller version of the Overrun Kingdom Casus Belli for duke-tier nomads.

New tiered traits for aging characters that progress in severity over time.

Several new hotkeys have been introduced for quicker access to various game features and navigation.

Players can now pin holdings and titles to the outliner for quick navigation.

A new functional ledger has been added to the game, providing detailed statistics on characters, wars, artifacts, and more.

Artifacts can now be sorted by rarity and filtered by type, enhancing artifact management.

Players can now manage and build in vassals' holdings directly from the ledger.

The character ledger allows players to compare characters based on various metrics, including economic and military strength.

New tools allow players to compare different faiths and cultures, including their populations and characteristics.

New pages for counties and titles provide detailed information on holdings, taxes, and more.

The War View now shows detailed losses for each side in wars, including soldiers and notable characters lost.

Players can now favorite wars and items in the ledger for easier tracking.

Adds on-map representations of 22 iconic Asian structures and landmarks to enhance the game.

Add historical fashion and flair with new clothing and buildings themed around northern Japan and coastal Siberia.

Includes new clothing for medieval China and surrounding cultures, featuring designs from the Ming Dynasty and Uyghur culture.

Improved visual quality of the Accolades UI and icons.

Revamped the Accolades system with a new Squires stat and improved agency over Accolade Attributes.

Added many long-missing parts of the world to Crusader Kings III, completing the full map.

New feature providing tabs for exploring various aspects of the game world.

Focus on tackling bugs that have been haunting the backlog.

Running an Open Beta to gather feedback and refine the experience before full release.

Replaced the previous Succession system with a hands-free Squires system for managing Acclaimed Knights.