Since the dawn of time, mankind has reckoned with one overriding question: how do I get in that building and kill everyone in it?
For almost as long, the Stronghold series has grappled with both sides of this conundrum, placing you in the mailed shoes of both defender and attacker in medieval siege after medieval siege. Now, 15 years (would you believe it?) after Stronghold 3, Stronghold 4 is here to put things in trebuchets and launch them at you, and we just caught sight of it at the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct.
Wishlist Stronghold 4 on Steam
Release date: 2026
15 years since the last numbered Stronghold game, the castle sim series is back. Get ready to design some unconquerable fortresses, lay siege to the other guys' slightly-more-conquerable fortresses. Wishlist Stronghold 4 on Steam.
It all looks quite swish—that good old, down-home Stronghold fun with plenty of refinements to make it all sing. Firefly's promising battles both big and varied, with stuff like seven-CPU skirmishes and 14 (count 'em) battlefields serving as the big bullet points for the trailer.
Me, though? I'm most enamoured of the eight distinct sickos who will serve as your enemy lords. We've got an old guy, essentially doing a medieval and elderly version of the old 'You can't cut back on funding!' character from Sim City, you've got a man with a profoundly punchable face and a zoomer haircut, you've got a fellow who seems to not quite be all there, and, my favourite, a goth lady who promises to break you apart piece by piece.
We also see a whole buncha, well, strongholds, which range in design from simple to labyrinthine and range in material from wood to stone, and which it looks like you can really go to town on, design-wise. I must say, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the game's stronghold-making tools and building me a castle that will last generations. Or at least until someone puts several flaming holes into it.
Stronghold 4 is coming later this year. You can wishlist it on Steam.
Check out our Steam page with all the games, updates, and DLC featured in the show. You can also read our roundup article which includes every announcement from the show in the order it aired.
