Crusader Kings II is now Free on Steam + Grab the Expansion pack "The Old Gods"

AndyJ · Oct 19, 2019

Heads up that Crusader Kings II is "free to play" on Steam right now:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/203770/Crusader_Kings_II/

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJvT_dku290

Not sure if it's Free-to-play forever, or just for this weekend to coincide with their PDXCON event - so people may want to install it now if it's of interest!

For PDXCON CK2 Is Free To Play!
We are thrilled to announce that to celebrate PDXCON Crusader Kings II is Free to Play! Here is your chance to get your hands on our cult medieval grand strategy game

Edit - The Paradox site seems to indicate that it IS free to keep :

Crusader Kings II is officially Free to Keep and now features the Monarch’s Journey! The Monarch’s Journey is a new way of exploring the world of Crusader Kings and will help you earn cosmetic add-ons for Crusader Kings III through Ruler Challenges.

The Ruler Challenges present you with a new realm with a specific objective to achieve. Whether you are a newcomer or a veteran The Monarch’s Journey is your chance to (re)learn parts of the game, try new worlds and new ways of play in our infinite medieval sandbox!

Looks like it runs on fairly low spec machines - and Windows, Mac OS X and Linux/SteamOS.
Min spec: IntelR PentiumR IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+, 4GB memory, 2.2GB HDD.

Paradox are also offering the expansion pack "Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods" for free as a Steam key.
You will need to sign up to their website to get it, and it can be redeemed via your account settings.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-edUnWQgyM

There's a bonus music pack for refering 4 people, so if anyone would like to help me - using this link would be appreciated:

Crusader Kings III - Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

www.crusaderkings.com

Alternatively, the direct link to the site is: https://www.crusaderkings.com

Cheers & Have fun!

[Edit 2] The "A Game of Thrones" mod that's recommended by Fishy & Henkka77 in comments below is available ~~to add via the Steam workshop:~~
~~https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1712870805~~
~~Subscribe to it and it will be downloaded & added to the game automatically by Steam.~~

Update: It appears that the GOT mod may have been removed from the Steam Workshop - although the workshop still contains mods for it.
The GOT mod itself can be found at MODDB here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/crusader-kings-2-a-game-of-thrones-ck2agot

Note that it appears the mod will need a new update before it will work with the free-to-play release of CKII as this is v3.30 and the mod requires v3.2.1.
There is a way to rollback to an older version of the CKII, it requires linking your Steam account to your Paradox Games account to unlock it as a "beta version".
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...ying-previous-versions-of-pds-titles.1120883/

[Edit 3]
Just a heads-up that "The Reaper's Due" DLC is available to grab for free today 8th March until 1pm EDT 9th March 2020 on Steam:

Expansion - Crusader Kings II: The Reaper's Due on Steam

The Reaper’s Due adds a host of new mechanics centered on the Black Death and other world shaping epidemics. Lock your gates to keep the plague from infecting your court, even if it means cutting yourself off from your suffering citizens.

store.steampowered.com

[Edit 4]
Heads up that the "Horse Lords" expansion DLC is available to grab for free right now - ends 16 May 2020 – 17:00:00 UTC

Expansion - Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords on Steam

Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords is the ninth expansion for the best-selling strategy RPG Crusader Kings II, and offers expanded gameplay based around the dynamic and vibrant nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppes.

store.steampowered.com

Fishy · Oct 19, 2019

Massively recommended to anyone who enjoys the niche "roleplaying strategy" genre. It's a strategy game, but with tons of roleplaying options as you're not taking control of a country but of a character. Do you want to build up the country? Do you want to strengthen your own lineage? Do you want to find a way to leave everything to a single son? Do you want to create a family involved all over Europe a few generations later? Legislation, religion, weddings, babies, plots, assassinations... Lots of tools to play with.

And best of all, there's an absolutely fantastic Game of Thrones mod that takes the game to Westeros. It's the best GoT game I can ever imagine being made. It captures everything that matters to me in that universe (the plotting, the betrayals, the murders, the alliances, the attrition of war, the knee-bending, the trials, the executions...). The more expansions you have, the more features the GoT mod will also tap into, but unless things have changed, it should be playable even with a vanilla CK2 version.

Viajero · Oct 19, 2019

Downloading...

Henkka77 · Oct 19, 2019

Best damn GoT simulator ever. Even without the GoT mod.

Had so many funny and surprising events in CK2 that sometimes i cant believe my eyes when they happened.
One main rule: trust no one. Bribe, kiss a**es, join forces with stronger than you so you can stab them in the back when the time is right.
Be vary of who you send your kids to learn life, wrong guardian can do really big damage and you might end up having kids who hate you and poison your evening meal.
Also, make sure your wife likes you, thats one certain way to destruction if you end up having a miserable wife.

Happy wife, happy life.

EDIT: Hot damn, Paradox has just announced Crusader Kings III!!

AndyJ · Oct 20, 2019

Thanks for the info about the Game of Thrones mod Fishy & Henkka77, that does look really cool indeed!
It doesn't appear to work with the free-to-play version at present though, as CKII has been updated to v3.3 and the mod requires v3.21
I'm a bit of a newbie with Steam and how it manages mods so needed to flex my GoogleFu to find out what to do.
I've put the info of how to add the mod & unlock previous versions of CKII (as betas) at the end of the 1st post for anyone else that may need a few pointers.

Cheers!

Henkka77 · Oct 20, 2019

Usually mods get the updates a bit later, depending on the activity of the mod owner. I have never tried the GoT mod but i'm guessing its so popular it will get updates quite frequently.

Vistitor010100 · Oct 21, 2019

also MS Game Pass

Source: https://youtu.be/MTTkYEjqC5Y

Snarfbuckle · Oct 23, 2019

I already own everything.

CK2 is the best court intrigue simulator in existence and the way to play is so flexible it's silly.

Allthough, trying to start the game as a female lesbian christian ruler in a non-christian area tends to...aggravate the neighbors.

But, there are fun things to do.

Start the game as a dwarf on Iceland (Drunkard, heavy infantry commander, berserker)
Import/invite dwarfs from around the world
Start the dwarf eugenics program
Become a dwarf empire
Join scotland as a vassal
Save scotland from invasion
Become the Grand Marshal of scotland
Be promoted by the king of the scots to Court Dwarf as a great honor
Write down the king of the scots in the great book of grudges
Invade scotland and be executed
Your sons now spend 3 generations sucking up to scotland
Take the help of scotlands new grand marshal to assassinate the entire scottish royal household during a 10 year assassination campaign using short assassins with stepladders.
Watch as the new grand marshal takes the scottish throne
Watch as scotland is ripped apart in civil war
Sit in iceland and profit as your long term plan for vengeance against the scottish is completed and the scotts can be removed in the book of grudges.

AndyJ · Mar 8, 2020

Just a heads-up that "The Reaper's Due" DLC is available to grab for free today on Steam:

Expansion - Crusader Kings II: The Reaper's Due on Steam

The Reaper’s Due adds a host of new mechanics centered on the Black Death and other world shaping epidemics. Lock your gates to keep the plague from infecting your court, even if it means cutting yourself off from your suffering citizens.

store.steampowered.com

(ends at 1pm EDT 9th March)

AndyJ · May 15, 2020

Heads up that the "Horse Lords" expansion DLC is currently available to grab for free right now - ends 16 May 2020 – 17:00:00 UTC

Expansion - Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords on Steam

Crusader Kings II: Horse Lords is the ninth expansion for the best-selling strategy RPG Crusader Kings II, and offers expanded gameplay based around the dynamic and vibrant nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppes.

store.steampowered.com