Crusader Kings II on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Explore one of the defining periods in world history in an experience crafted by the masters of Grand Strategy.
Crusader Kings II is a grand strategy, strategy and medieval game
developed by Paradox Development Studio
and published by Paradox Interactive.
Released on February 14th 2012 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 4 languages: English, French, German and Spanish - Spain.
It has received 73,809 reviews of which 66,359 were positive and 7,450 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎
The game is free to play on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Crusader Kings II into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS: Win7 64-bit
- Processor: Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 2 GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900, 512mb graphics memory required.
- DirectX®: 9.0c
- Sound: Direct X-compatible sound card
- Additional: 3-button mouse and keyboard
MacOS
- OS: 10.11 (El Capitan)
- Processor: Intel Core Duo Processor (2GHz or better)
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 2 GB
- Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 6750 / NVIDIA GeForce 320 / NVIDIA GeForce
9600 or higher, 1024MB graphics memory required
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu 16.04 x64
- Processor: IntelR PentiumR IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+
- Memory: 4 GB
- Hard disk space: 2 Gb
- Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 6750 / NVIDIA GeForce 320 / NVIDIA GeForce
> 9600 or higher, 1024MB graphics memory required.
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
TLDR: A devilishly addicting medieval strategy game bursting with deep mechanics and endless replayability. But its brutal complexity and predatory DLC pricing on an aging title leave a sour aftertaste. PROS: ➕Steam Workshop integration ➕Deep and involved mechanics ➕Numerous choices to approach situations ➕Addicting “One more turn” type of gameplay CONS: ➖Overwhelming amount of DLC and an optional subscription…. ➖Super high complexity ➖Often vague UI/map elements making things that should be simple, hard Content (Game world/Narrative) – The game world takes place on a single map of Earth around Europe, set between the years ~700 and ~1400. The game strives for authenticity, so many of the territories have then original older names. The game goes so far as to even have historical figures that are playable or NPCs, and you can access their Wikipedia page from an in-game link. The map itself is 3D, but most of the time appears 2D from a satellite viewpoint. There isn’t much interaction with the map other than clicking on territories to get information. There is no predefined narrative, the bulk of the games stories come from events that happen naturally as you play, causing players to create their own stories. It’s the multi-generational hundred years stories of how you and your family built an empire or died trying. Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – This game is mechanically vast. It seems like there are multiple solutions to every problem you come across as you play. The majority of your playtime will be spent navigating menus to initiate specific actions. Things like controlling council members, creating plots and laws, wars, managing your court and vassals, it's all very detailed. Most interactions you do have a positive or negative influence on those around you leading to affecting the outcome of future decisions. This is medieval intrigue at its peak. The game is not difficult, per se, but it is very complex. There's deep mechanics that it can be overwhelming when starting off. If you’ve ever tried EVE Online, this is basically the single player medieval version of that. Graphics (Quality/Technical) – The graphics are not great, there’s just simply not much to look at other than menus and the overhead view of continents. The UI is the bulk of the game, and while it could certainly do worse, I feel like much of the difficulty can be tied to learning menu navigation. Technical side, the game runs fine, but simply because there is very little graphically demanding anything happening at any time. Surprisingly, for a game this complex, I haven’t really noticed any bugs. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | Windows 11 installed on SSD Audio – Good audio. The music is appropriate and spot on for the era of game that CK2 is. There is barely any voice acting other than death sounds. Replay Factor (Longevity) – Very good. There are SO many starting leaders, years, and even custom ruler that you can do as a starting game. With events being random, you’ll never get the same game twice. There’s also a bunch of Workshop mods available and multiplayer as well. Final Verdict – Crusader Kings 2 (CK2) is one of those games, like Civilization, where you try to accomplish a “Couple” things, then before you know it 10 hours have passed, and the day is over. It’s devilishly addicting. But with the engaging gameplay that sucks you in comes a tradeoff of deep complexity. This is not a game for the faint of brain. If you don’t want to be googling mechanics every 20 minutes, then this game is not for you. And despite the complexity, the game barely teaches you the basics from its tutorial. While talking about negatives, I must bring up the absurd DLC price and even a paid subscription option (!) for an almost 15-year-old game. There is still tons of content in the vanilla game, but I can’t help feeling all the DLC and sub leaves a bad taste in my mouth. What makes it so good? I think it’s the multiple systems on top of each other that create a compelling experience. As you play, you’ll have to constantly manage dozens of important aspects of your kingdom/court. Maybe your vassals are plotting against you to install someone else in your place so you have to set your spymaster on them to prevent other nobles from joining their cause. Or maybe you have a brother than is conspiring against you because he is the heir to your lands, so you might be trying to kill him while siring a heir of your bloodline. There’s a ton of courtly intrigue here when combined with random events, create a very interesting and unique experience. Overall, if you can stomach the difficulty and DLC costs, you’ll find an incredibly deep and super addictive game that will absolutely consume hours of your life instantly. Highly recommend. Recommend? (Price) [Y/N] Yes Base game is free, but the price of the game has been moved into expensive DLCs and an optional subscription service for all DLCs. This is scummy for an almost 15-year-old game. $300+ worth of DLCs is just ridiculous. You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR
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I have nailed my down-syndrome sister who received her genetic impairment (or blessing depending on how you view the downs community) from the inbreeding of my dynastic predecessors. I have taken money from the Jews knowing full well I would only expel them as repayment. I have created an antipope, who was also my gay lover. I have successfully recreated the Hapsburg dynasty in look alone. I have installed my own family as Byzantine emperor, only for them to imprison and execute me as thanks. This game is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good why haven't you gotten it? PROTIP: Don't waste your money buying all the DLC, Paradox is ripping you off. Buy the subscription for a few months, delete it when you get bored of CK2. You can always go back to it, you can never wash the feeling of being a sucker for being a few hundred for one game.
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An incredibly relaxing game once you learn the systems. Its essentially a cozy game where I see what crazy alt history I can make. CK3 is deeper in parts, but CK2 will always feel like home.
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Crusader Kings II is an amazing generator of fascinating stories and experiences. The endless mods available especially add replayability.
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It should say something of this game and the loss of skill and competency at Paradox that I keep coming back to this and not CKIII. Get this game and the DLCs on sale. Stay away from any new Paradox games. They couldn't develop a half-assed game if they had 10 years and all the assets of some RPG maker. Sad to see a studio that made good products become a soulless machine prioritizing profit over even the basic level of creativity.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crusader Kings II is free to play on Steam.
Crusader Kings II is not on sale because is already free to play on Steam.
Crusader Kings II received 66,359 positive votes out of a total of 73,809 achieving a rating of 8.85.
😎
Crusader Kings II was developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive.
Crusader Kings II is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Crusader Kings II is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Crusader Kings II is playable and fully supported on Linux.
Crusader Kings II offers both single-player and multi-player modes.
Crusader Kings II offers both Co-op and PvP modes.
There are 32 DLCs available for Crusader Kings II. Explore additional content available for Crusader Kings II on Steam.
Crusader Kings II does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Crusader Kings II does not support Steam Remote Play.
Crusader Kings II does not currently support Steam Family Sharing.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Crusader Kings II.
Data sources
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 26 April 2026 04:12 |
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| SteamSpy data | 22 April 2026 12:34 |
| Steam price | 26 April 2026 04:12 |
| Steam reviews | 28 April 2026 23:48 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Crusader Kings II, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Crusader Kings II
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Crusader Kings II concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Crusader Kings II compatibility
Game modes
Online players
1,198
Developer
Paradox Development Studio
Publisher
Paradox Interactive
Release
14 Feb 2012
Platforms