Kingmakers took the internet by storm when its announcement trailer debuted earlier this year. The video showcases an explosive mix of medieval and modern warfare, with swordsmen clashing with special ops soldiers armed with assault rifles and attack helicopters. This unique concept has captured gamers’ imaginations and left them eager to learn more. In this article, we dive into everything we know so far about Kingmakers’ release date, platforms, price, and other key details.
Kingmakers Release Date
Developer Redemption Road Games and publisher TinyBuild have confirmed Kingmakers will launch first on PC in 2024. A console release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S will follow in 2025.
While 2024 feels a long way off, it’s common for complex simulation games of this scale to have extended development cycles. The team is planning regular content and feature reveal updates between now and launch day to build hype. With that in mind, continue to read this Kingmakers review and learn more about the game.
Platforms Supporting Kingmakers
As mentioned above, Kingmakers will launch on PC first, followed by next-gen consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. If you are looking forward to getting your hands on Kingmakers Game PS5 or Kingmakers Xbox, you will need to wait for some time. Once it becomes available, you may proceed with Kingmakers Crossplay.
Redemption Road has stated the game is already running well on Xbox Series X/S development kits. The studio has a good relationship with Microsoft, as seen from their previous game Helldivers 2 launching day-one on Xbox Game Pass.
Crossplay support across PC and consoles is planned post-launch. This will greatly expand the player pool for the game’s large multiplayer battles.
No version has been announced for previous-gen consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The immense scale and simulation complexity of Kingmakers battles likely makes old hardware unsuitable.
Kingmakers Price
There’s no official price tag for Kingmakers yet. However, Redemption Road’s previous title Helldivers 2 launched at $19.99 USD on console and $24.99 USD on PC. We expect Kingmakers to be competitively priced in a similar ballpark figure when it is released.
It’s likely the console version will be $5-10 cheaper than PC at launch, which is often the case with multiplatform titles.
There’s been no mention of Kingmakers coming to Xbox/PC Game Pass subscription services. But given publisher TinyBuild’s productive relationship with Microsoft, we’d say Game Pass inclusion down the track is a good chance.
Are you looking forward to getting the Kingmakers game at a price you can afford? Then you should buy it from us at Electronic First.
Kingmakers Gameplay Features
Here’s a recap of Kingmakers’ core gameplay features based on official info released so far.
Massive real-time battles
Kingmakers’ signature drawcard is battles with thousands of AI-controlled medieval soldiers clashing in real-time. The simulation uses advanced pathfinding and decision logic, considering factors like loyalty and self-preservation when controlling each individual combatant.
Sandbox campaign
Players take on the role of a time traveler sent back from a post-apocalyptic future to medieval England, tasked with altering the past to save the future. The story campaign has a sandbox structure where you’re free to alter the course of historic battles.
Kingdom building
Gather resources across the open world to construct your own kingdom. Manage settlements, economy, production buildings and research projects. Upgrade peasant levies into soldiers that obey your command in battle.
Asymmetric battles
Pit different eras of warriors against each other, like swordsmen versus special forces, to bend history to your will. The advanced battle simulator promises to make wildly asymmetric face-offs highly engaging.
Diverse arsenal
Take control of modern military weapons like assault rifles, mines, mortars, artillery and even satellite-targeted air strikes. Combine these seamlessly with medieval bows, swords and cavalry charges.
Physics simulation
Kingmakers boasts an advanced proprietary physics system with realistically simulated projectiles, explosions, crumbling buildings and more. This deepens immersion across asymmetric battles with diverse weapons.
Extensive customization
Tweak each battle’s parameters to curate your dream medieval vs modern matchup. Set unit counts, squad composition, loadouts, rules of engagement and battlefield features like forts, terrain and weather.
Cooperative multiplayer
Work together with friends to dominate massive battles in online co-op play. Coordinate your combined forces to outsmart advanced enemy AI through immense simulated skirmishes.
Morale system
Troops’ courage in the face of strange weapons plays an important role. Fearsome displays of force like artillery barrages or attack chopper strafing runs can make regiments rout or even switch allegiances.
Procedurally generated maps
Battles take place across expansive, intricately detailed procedurally generated maps representing real world geography like forests, villages and castle strongholds. No two playthroughs are the same.
The core premise of time travelling soldiers bringing modern weapons into medieval battles is certainly novel. Coupled with large-scale physics-based warfare simulation and extensive customization, Kingmakers shapes up as a fresh, emergent take on multiplayer army building/battle games like Total War.
It could turn out to be a triumphant fusion of strategic base building, dynamic decision making when leading troops, and explosive action when unleashing your futuristic arsenal.
Developer and Publisher Pedigree
While Kingmakers is a new IP, developer Redemption Road Games boasts strong credentials. The Swedish studio previously worked on military sim Arma III before releasing their debut game Helldivers 2 in late 2022.
Helldivers 2 has been well-received for its intense 4 player-cooperative battles against alien hordes. It’s currently amongst the top played games on Xbox thanks to day-one Game Pass inclusion.
Redemption Road has proven they can create rock-solid shooting mechanics and chaotic warfare scenarios that shine in co-op. These strengths should translate well into Kingmakers’ multiplayer army battling.
Meanwhile TinyBuild publisher has emerged as a rising force over the last decade for helping indie developers succeed. They’ve turned niche concepts like punch-em-up Not Tonight and conscious puzzle game Let’s Build a Zoo into left-field hits.
TinyBuild Steam has demonstrated savvy understanding of target audiences, execution of smart viral marketing campaigns, and leveraging streaming/influencer exposure into sales momentum. Their expertise in getting eyeballs on unusual games like Kingmakers bodes well for its launch and continued sustainability.
Evolution of Combat
Kingmakers is pioneering a new generation of battlefield AI to enable more sophisticated combat dynamics. Rather than scripted behaviors, each soldier makes decisions using a neural network modelled after human cognition.
This opens possibilities like feigning retreats to bait enemies into ambushes, or temporarily aligning with a rival faction to concentrate fire against a mutual threat. The AI evaluates countless contextual factors during each skirmish, simulating human-like thinking tailored to its capabilities.
Accordingly, battlefield tactics shift organically as situations change, keeping players on their toes. A brave swordsman charge may break at the spectacle of a flaming attack helicopter roared overhead. Modern special forces might need to adapt when low medieval-era ammunition forces them to pick up broadswords and rally nearby troops.
The ever-evolving combat scenarios promise to stay fresh over many hours. Developers plan ongoing AI enhancements post-launch too, with machine learning further refining decision making from accumulated battle data. If Kingmakers lives up to its dynamic warfare aspirations, dominating matches will prove an addictive, cerebral challenge.
Symbolic Storytelling
Kingmakers embraces playful anachronism in both gameplay and narrative by asking “what if?”. Dropping vastly more advanced soldiers armed with weapons from 500 years into the future offers intriguing hypotheticals.
The story trailer reveals whispered legends telling of “metal men with magic sticks” who suddenly appeared on ancient battlefields. We step into the shoes of those time-displaced protagonists sent back from a doomed future to rewrite history.
But Kingmakers hints this interference may birth unforeseen new threats across the timeline. Perhaps our actions spawn the very mythic enemy who conquers the future world, creating a predestination paradox.
This leaves underlying themes around human conflict’s cyclical nature if technology continuously outpaces ethics. Kingmakers has scope to deliver messages about modern society’s relationship with warfare, packaged entertainingly with explosions and air strikes along the way.
The speculative fiction premise grants freedom to sculpt battles exactly as wild as players might desire. Meanwhile layering even token narrative motivation overcomes seemingly arbitrary “because it’s fun” crossover excuses. Selling the outlandish concept while provoking thought could make Kingmakers’ campaign especially memorable.
Competitive Community
Beyond solo and cooperative play, Kingmakers is positioned to flourish as a competitive game for guilds and streaming crews. The huge scale battles demand tactical coordination best achieved by specialist teams organizing before matches.
Assigning distinct in-game commanding roles like infantry general, vehicle squad leader and reconnaissance strategist will breed closer clan community bonds. Guilds can perfect their balance of mobility, reconnaissance and firepower by tailoring custom infantry compositions. Special forces kill squads armed with machine guns covering tank divisions supported by Transport chopper medics could become a clan’s signature.
Meanwhile personalities streaming Kingmakers contests on Twitch and YouTube will drive viewership through charismatic leadership under fire. Top players might gain fame for ingenious battle plans relying on precise timing and nerve-wracking gambles, validated by clutching key victories on broadcast.
There’s also scope for Kingmakers to embrace the booming esports scene by organizing high stakes tournaments, fueled by additional monetization like soldier cosmetics. If the action proves entertaining for spectators, competitive circuits pitting elite pro guilds in a battle of wits and reflexes could thrive.
Ongoing Content Pipeline
Redemption Road has underlined plans to continually expand Kingmakers beyond launch over months and years. This sustained content pipeline aims to hold player attention spans typically lost when titles ship “complete” nowadays.
The staggeringly ambitious map creation uses procedural generation to construct expansive, intricately detailed battlegrounds. But developers are also hand-crafting new environments like siegable castles, coastal navy engagements or snow-swept mountain valleys broadening possible battle types.
New warrior regiments debuting could drastically impact the evolving meta too. Factions like peasant rebel mobs or 10th century Viking raiders freshen up both ally and enemy options when curating dream historical face-offs.
And Kingmakers’ modern arsenal has room to grow more outrageously anachronistic over time. Flamethrowers, portable railguns, soundwave cannons firing visible shockwaves — the sky’s the limit for imaginative future tech. Even introducing vehicular warfare like rideable cavalry or drivable tanks reinvents battle dynamics.
This open-ended DLC blueprint helps justify full retail pricing for what initially seems like a unique but narrow gameplay concept. If post-launch support meets ambitions, Kingmakers could believably sustain engaged communities for the long term.
A Publishing Force on The Rise
While Kingmakers represents Redemption Road’s sophomore title, publisher TinyBuild is no newcomer. Their catalogue reveals a savvy eye for unique indie concepts paired with marketing moxie to will them into left-field successes.
TinyBuild first landed on the map helping fund 2013 sandbox survival game TinyBuild Hello Neighbor, conceived by Dynamic Pixels. Its distinctive neighbor-spying premise captured YouTube audiences’ imagination, establishing TinyBuild’s strength leveraging influencer and streamer coverage. Dynamic Pixels’ later bought back rights to self-publish TinyBuild Games Hello Neighbor 2, but TinyBuild had already elevated their original breakthrough.
The publisher fostered more sleeper hits over the years by targeting niche yet passionate communities. Not Tonight won fans through post-Brexit commentary couched in addictive immigration management sim mechanics. Let’s Build a Zoo and its ethical spin on zoo administration tapped into a charmed animal collective 125 million strong on Reddit.
TinyBuild has also demonstrated business agility to change course when necessary. After 2018 release Totally Accurate Battle Simulator underperformed expectations, they adjusted strategy for wider exposure. Securing TinyBuild MATPAT or The Game Theorists YouTube episode sponsorships introduced TABS to millions more eyeballs, salvaging its long-tail success.
With excitement for Kingmakers already palpable, TinyBuild finds themselves ideally positioned to again transform an imaginative battler into a sustained multiplayer phenomenon. Their marketing mavericks will surely be plotting the perfect post-announcement content drip feed to maintain internet chatter leading up to the 2024 launch.
Final Words
The reveal trailer for Kingmakers immediately captured gaming’s imagination thanks to its outlandish fusion of wildly disparate genres and eras. This unpredictable mashup shows innovation is far from dead among mid-tier studios.
If Redemption Road’s short but sweet track record proves anything, it’s that they know how to attract dedicated players by supporting releases with substantial post-launch content drops. So, while the 2024/2025 wait for Kingmakers hurts, the eventual package could prove well worth the extended development.
What are your thoughts on Kingmakers? Does warring with machine guns and grenades amidst medieval soldiers spark curiosity or confusion? Let us know which gameplay elements have you most excited in the comments!