Crusader Kings 3 has now sold 3m copies, mostly to a bunch of murder lovers apparently

Paradox Interactive’s medieval grand strategy game Crusader Kings 3 is celebrating its three-year anniversary by trumpeting 3m copies sold since launch and by releasing a bunch of statistics gleaned in that time, suggesting players’ conflict resolution skills may need some work – or at least, a little less of a preoccupation with murder.

According to Paradox, a grand total of 50,159,539 murder schemes have been successfully carried out since Crusader Kings 3’s arrival back in 2020. That’s nearly 16m more murder plots than wedding celebrations, which currently sit at 34,480,042. And, of course, more than a few chaotic sorts have thoroughly muddied the waters between the two, with Paradox reporting a total of 7,790 bloody weddings have been masterminded by players who cleary weren’t going to let a bit of murder get in the way of anyone’s big day – or possiby vice versa.

Paradox’s other shared stats don’t open up quite such a fascinating window on player behaviour, but we do know 1,325,198 grand tournaments have been bravely fought since launch, and 1,037,787 grand weddings have also been held. In total, player have amassed more than 317m hours in-game, with nearly 1.4m players having joined this year alone.

In a press release celebrating Crusader Kings 3’s third anniversary and 3m sales milestone, Paradox described the medieval strategy title as having “wide appeal beyond the stereotypical history fan”, saying it was the “first Paradox grand strategy game for many players, acting as an entry point to a wider world of historical gaming” – a claim I can believe given the hours of delighted bafflement I’ve spent trying to wrap my brain around Victoria 3 post-CK3.

Today’s birthday celebrations follow last week’s launch of Crusader Kings 3’s Wards & Wardens event pack, which – in a theme said to have been chosen by the community – is focused on raising young princes and nobles “in a world where eternal glory is a battle away, and danger lurks in every shadow”. The Wards & Wardens event pack is available now for £4.29.