Crusader Kings III’s Silk and Silver Expansion Lets You Play Merchants and Republics for the First Time
Paradox has announced Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver, a major expansion arriving November 17 for $29.99 (also included in the Chapter V expansion pass) on Steam. For the first time in the grand strategy series, players will be able to abandon the throne entirely and run a landless trading company or an elected mercantile republic instead of a feudal dynasty.
Building a Merchant Empire
The new Merchant government puts players in charge of an obscure trading family hunting for profit across more than forty tradeable goods. Each merchant picks a specialization — Caravaneers move bulk goods, Creditors lend money to rulers, and Artisans craft new artifacts — and unlocks further bonuses as their experience with specific goods grows. Gold and intrigue can win over nobles as patrons, while securing exclusive rights to a Market, or a full Monopoly, pushes out rival traders. The family’s mansion acts as its home base, and investing prestige and gold into its grounds opens up additional trade routes.
Playing a Republic
Silk & Silver also makes historical republics like Venice and Genoa fully playable. Instead of a hereditary ruler, a patrician family competes for power through wealth and popularity, with the elected doge chosen by the Assembly rather than inherited by blood. Rival houses jockey for position through law, bribery, and assembly politics, and the constitution comes first: players must get the Assembly to pass laws that set term limits and control how the treasury is spent. An administration choice shapes what the Republic does best, from a seafaring trade power to a city-state ruled by the common folk, and Trade Posts let a Republic project influence into foreign counties. Trade Leagues, formed through the overhauled trade system, add commercial and military benefits for every member.
New Bookmarks in Italy
Two new bookmarks frame the expansion’s focus. 1066 – Channels of Commerce starts players as a medieval merchant building trade networks for spices, silk, and silver, while 1178 – Guelphs & Ghibellines drops them into the papal-versus-imperial power struggle across Northern Italy, where Republics can hold civic carnivals and the two factions can escalate their rivalry into open warfare.
Release Details
Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver launches November 17 on Steam for $29.99, or as part of the Chapter V pass. Players stocking up ahead of launch can grab a Crusader Kings III key directly, round out a Steam Wallet Code (EU) for the DLC purchase, or browse the rest of our strategy game deals.
