Price of New CK3 Expansion Worries Fans
A new expansion for CK3 will soon be in the hands of players. It will be the event pack titled Friends & Foes. In light of Paradox Interactive's recent financial moves, many fans are wondering how much the DLC will cost.
Paradox Interactive has announced that soon (probably on September 8, 2022), the players will receive the Friends & Foes DLC for Crusaders Kings 3. It is to be a new type of expansion - an event pack. This introduces a bit of confusion to the previous release cycle, which was based on small regional expansions (flavor packs) and large ones that introduce new global mechanics. Fans are concerned about how much this new type of content might cost.
Price increases
In mid-August, news broke that Paradox Interactive is changing its approach toward the pricing of smaller DLCs (so-called flavor packs) for its flagship game Crusaders Kings 3. Starting September 13, they are to cost a lot more (more than double the old price, to be more specific).
Controversy over Friends & Foes
As it was said in the introduction, so far Paradox Interactive's DLC policy has focused on smaller (regional) extras and large global expansions, with occasional free updates. Friends & Foes on the other hand, has been categorized by the developers as an event pack. It is a completely new label.
In the context of the above, many players are wondering how much this "creation" will be priced at. The situation is not helped by the fact that the company itself has not yet made the price of the product public.
Some fans speculate that Paradox Interactive purposely raised the price of flavor packs, in order to make "room" in the lower price segment for event packs. According to this theory, the latter would cost between $5 and $8.
However, there are voices, which carry a slightly more optimistic message. They say that these DLCs will be free. However, many fans are skeptical of this take, noting that various story events have so far been part of other expansions or free updates, and have never appeared in a separate form. Which may indicate a desire to monetize them.
About Friends & Foes
Yesterday, Paradox Interactive released a trailer for Friends & Foes. It's an event pack containing more than 100 different events. They are designed to make the world of CK3 come alive, and relationships between characters become even deeper. Fans will get the opportunity to win friends and deal with enemies in new ways.
In the trailer, the release date of this DLC was not stated, but the product card on Steam reveals that it scheduled to be released on September 8, 2022.
Bastion Update
Developers of CK3 are already sharing details with fans about the next free update. It is called Bastion. It will add many interesting things, including a memory system. From now on, characters will experience events that they will remember for a long time. In addition, there are to be changes regarding character traits. In addition, the AI of non-player rulers will be improved.
It is worth noting that, according to the developers, Bastion is to be released simultaneously with something else - but it was not specified what. Given how much emphasis the developers put on immersion and character development, it wouldn't surprise me if the update came out at the same time as the launch of Friends & Foes. However, this is only a guess. For now, we must be patient.
