Crusader Kings 3 revamps its presentation for PS5 & Xbox Series X release

Crusader Kings 3 boy kneeling with sword
(Image credit: Paradox Interactive)

Paradox Interactive has announced that Crusader Kings 3, its grand strategy game for PC, will release for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on March 29.

In the announcement trailer, Paradox explains that this is less a port of the PC game and more of an adaptation, as the development team has had to change the presentation and menus to better suit console players.

A separate PlayStation Blog post written by Justin Forrest, design director at Lab42 Games (which has partnered with Paradox for the console releases), also confirmed that the PS5 version will boast unique features for the DualSense controller.

Haptic and speaker feedback will change depending on the terrain of the map and the adaptive triggers will even push back if you make decisions that go against your character's wishes. The more stressed they are, the more resistance you'll face.

Forrest promises a smooth learning experience so new players won't feel overwhelmed and short loading times, which you can no doubt expect for the Xbox version as well.

The 1.5 update

Before the next-gen releases, the PC version of Crusader Kings 3 will receive a free 1.5 update alongside the paid Royal Court expansion on February 8. This expansion will be available for the console versions as well.

One major addition this update includes is support for same-sex marriages. Originally, this was only possible through fan-made mods, but Paradox intends on making it an official rule within the game.

"This is something that we’re very happy to be able to put into the game and have support in the game rules for unmodded games too, it is something that a lot of the team and community wanted and we are glad it is finally going to be shipped in 1.5," reads the most recent dev diary.

It's not entirely clear if the console versions will come with all the changes and additions included in the 1.5 update. If not, then it should hopefully be added at a later date.

Michael Beckwith

Michael is a freelance writer with bylines at the Metro, TechRaptor, and Game Rant. A Computer Games Design and Creative Writing graduate, he's been passionate about video games since the Game Boy Color, particularly Nintendo games, with Xenoblade Chronicles being his favorite game ever. Despite everything, he's still a Sonic the Hedgehog fan.