Crusader Kings 3's next major expansions will bring playable Popes and merchant republics

After last year's celebrated Chapter Four expansions that extended Crusader Kings 3's map across Asia with systems for playing as Mongolian nomads, Chinese courtly bureaucrats, and god-kings of Indonesia, Paradox isn't resting on its laurels. Today, the studio unveiled its future plans in a Chapter Five reveal video, previewing a pair of major paid DLC aimed at overhauling CK3's religion gameplay and introducing new mercantile playstyles.

If you've been waiting to play Pope—and I'm sure you have—you'll be getting your chance later this year.

By God Alone, the first of Chapter Five's two major paid expansions arriving in Q3 2026, brings a rework to CK3's religion systems—particularly for Christian characters. In the reveal video, design lead Mikael Andersson said Paradox's is "fleshing out the Christian church to make the institution itself feel like a living entity."

By God Alone will introduce systems for modeling how faith in the medieval era continually evolved on both local and cross-continental scales. A new Rites mechanic will represent localized variations on and divergence from religious convention. Rites have their own religious leaders, who potentially risk being declared heretical by church authority.

Or, thanks to the expansion making theocracies playable, you can finally step into the Pope's shoes and do some excommunication of your own. Worst case scenario, you usher in an exciting new schism. Everyone loves a schism. Religious characters in general will interact with a new spiritual fulfillment system, influenced by reworked religious tenet mechanics that Paradox says "now center characters' relationships to their faith."

Chapter Five's other half, Silk & Silver, will be available for purchase in Q4, and brings a new merchant playstyle in which you, as the head of a trading company, will establish trade routes, secure monopolies, and undermine competitors to amass both wealth and political influence. That'll feed into a new Republic government type, where you'll jockey with other merchant families to set the republic's constitution, pass laws, and form trade confederations in league with other republics for mutual commercial and military benefit.

To help set the stage for Chapter Five, Paradox also dropped a free update today. The 1.19 changelog includes a new modular Stories system that presents special event chains in a more visible and coherent format, the addition of age-related ailments (because getting old in the medieval era apparently wasn't miserable enough), and quality of life features like a Ledger window that provides useful realm, character, and world information.

And as a delightful bonus, it adds a Kingdom Come: Deliverance collaboration. If you're playing from an 867, 1066, or 1178 start date, you might encounter Henry as an in-game adventurer. Hopefully his CK3 incarnation doesn't acquire any ailments if he tries to ride a horse beneath any low arches.