Crusader Kings 3 celebrates 3 years with stats showing we're 45% more likely to do a murder than fall in love

It has, somehow, been three whole years since Crusader Kings 3 came out, and it's done quite well for itself in that time. It's sold three million copies—not including expansions—across its three-year reign, so Paradox has put out a new trailer and a selection of other weird stats to celebrate its longevity and success.

The trailer is pretty much what you'd expect: A quick overview of CK3's journey so far interspersed with clips of streamers getting up to all sorts of philandering, papicide, and other courtly conspiracies. But the stats Paradox has put out are very good fun. Across over 300 million collective hours played, CK3 players have held around 34.5 million weddings, 1.3 million grand tournaments, and got away with 50 million murders.

A selection of stats from three years of Crusader Kings 3. — (Image credit: Paradox)

If my maths is right, that means CK3 players are around 45% more likely to do a murder than fall in love. Maybe my maths isn't right. Honestly, that seems low.

Paradox reckons that three million sold figure is testament to CK3's appeal as "a strategy game with a wide appeal beyond the stereotypical history fan," which somehow feels like a backhanded diss against me—a stereotypical history fan—personally.

The studio is particularly pleased with the way CK3 has acted as a gateway to its map-painting games for many fans. It's "the first Paradox grand strategy game" for many players, "acting as an entry point to a wider world of historical gaming". Even now, there are thousands of poor, lost souls tinkering around with Hearts of Iron 4 divisions because they fell under the baleful influence of someone like me who told them to check out CK3. A moment of silence for them, please.

CK3 has just received its Wards & Wardens event pack, which focuses on your ability to raise tiny aristocrat sociopaths, and is set to receive its Legacy of Persia flavour pack at some point in the near future. Last year, it took the #3 spot on PC Gamer's Top 100 List. It's more than earned it, if you ask me.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.