Hi folks!
This week is a big deal for me and for everyone else who has worked on Crusader Kings II over the years, because the game is just about to turn five years old! It was released on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2012. (So, if you’re running low on ideas for a gift to that special someone tomorrow, what could be more romantic than a copy of Crusader Kings II? Just saying.)
Five years on, we are still cranking out expansions and updates, all thanks to you folks! I have to say, the lifespan of this game has been pretty amazing compared to all the previous games I’ve worked on. I loved them all, of course - those games we no longer actively support - from Europa Universalis to Victoria II, but it’s been fantastic to be allowed to keep building on a game for so long, unlocking so much of its potential. CK2 is also special to me because I owned the vision and have done so much work on it personally. Stay tuned for a special anniversary dev diary tomorrow, where I will talk about the history and development of the game at length.
Of more immediate interest, we have essentially finished work on the upcoming expansion, Monks and Mystics, and it’s shaped up very well! You might already know, or suspect, that most of the new Societies will be part of the paid expansion, but there is one type of Society that actually comes with the free update; Secret Religious Cults (yes, this means that the Society framework itself is also free, so that modders can go nuts even without the expansion.) These Societies consist of followers who falsely profess faith in one religion while secretly belonging to another.
Almost all of the main (non-heretic) religions have a corresponding “Secret Cult”. The membership consists of characters who fake belief in another religion in order to avoid persecution. Rulers can join any of these cults if the religion exists within diplomatic distance, and at the highest rank, the ruler can finally overtly embrace the religion and convert. Meanwhile, you get missions and powers to induce Sympathy for your real religion in other characters in the realm as well as the population in the counties. With careful groundwork, you can stage an extremely powerful religious revolt; as long as your subversive activities go unnoticed by your liege…
Next week we’ll start going over the patch notes, and don’t miss our anniversary stream later today or the special dev diary tomorrow!
This week is a big deal for me and for everyone else who has worked on Crusader Kings II over the years, because the game is just about to turn five years old! It was released on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2012. (So, if you’re running low on ideas for a gift to that special someone tomorrow, what could be more romantic than a copy of Crusader Kings II? Just saying.)
Five years on, we are still cranking out expansions and updates, all thanks to you folks! I have to say, the lifespan of this game has been pretty amazing compared to all the previous games I’ve worked on. I loved them all, of course - those games we no longer actively support - from Europa Universalis to Victoria II, but it’s been fantastic to be allowed to keep building on a game for so long, unlocking so much of its potential. CK2 is also special to me because I owned the vision and have done so much work on it personally. Stay tuned for a special anniversary dev diary tomorrow, where I will talk about the history and development of the game at length.
Of more immediate interest, we have essentially finished work on the upcoming expansion, Monks and Mystics, and it’s shaped up very well! You might already know, or suspect, that most of the new Societies will be part of the paid expansion, but there is one type of Society that actually comes with the free update; Secret Religious Cults (yes, this means that the Society framework itself is also free, so that modders can go nuts even without the expansion.) These Societies consist of followers who falsely profess faith in one religion while secretly belonging to another.
Almost all of the main (non-heretic) religions have a corresponding “Secret Cult”. The membership consists of characters who fake belief in another religion in order to avoid persecution. Rulers can join any of these cults if the religion exists within diplomatic distance, and at the highest rank, the ruler can finally overtly embrace the religion and convert. Meanwhile, you get missions and powers to induce Sympathy for your real religion in other characters in the realm as well as the population in the counties. With careful groundwork, you can stage an extremely powerful religious revolt; as long as your subversive activities go unnoticed by your liege…
Next week we’ll start going over the patch notes, and don’t miss our anniversary stream later today or the special dev diary tomorrow!