Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition gets a massive update introducing Steam Workshop support, 10 new maps, and a 10-mission cooperative campaign

A big sandstone castle in Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition, surrounded by workers milling about.

(Image credit: Firefly Studios)

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition's consistent popularity has proved there's a big audience for classic RTS action, even as the broader genre struggles to break new ground. Hence, it's a little surprising to see other grizzled strategy veterans polishing their blades for one last stab at glory. One such example is last year's Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition, which further fortified ye-olde castle-building sim with a shiny visual overhaul and new campaigns.

It proved a successful makeover, with the Definitive Edition garnering itself a 'Very Positive' rating on Steam. Now, Firefly's stalwart RTS is getting additional reinforcements in its Winter Update, bringing a bunch of vital supplies to the game.

The headline feature is Steam Workshop support, which itself is supported by a new player tool—The Castle and CPU Lord editor. While not the most elegant name, it's an accurate description, the tool allowing players to create custom castles to besiege and CPU lords to pit their strategic wits against.

Joining this is another tool that lets players create custom trails—strings of skirmish missions that sit alongside the main campaigns. Alongside building whole new trails, the tool also lets players edit existing trails, tweaking the lord and castle configurations of any included missions to your liking.

Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition - Official Launch Trailer - YouTube

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If you're more interested in playing than creating, the Winter update adds ten new maps for you to build and fight on. These range from a map split into four sections by water channels, necessitating long range siege fighting before you risk a ground assault, and a coastal free-build map that lets you construct your fortifications on cracked flatlands or rugged cliffsides.

The winter update also introduces a 10-mission co-op trail, in which you and a buddy must square off against the Caravan of the Camels. Frankly, that seems like a bit of an unfair fight to me. Two crusader armies against a bunch of dromedaries? I can only assume those camels spit bullets.

Other new features include a spectator mode, an 'extreme' difficulty for trails, CPU castle editing in multiplayer and skirmish, and the usual array of bug-fixes, balance tweaks, and scenario adjustments. You can currently get Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition and all its wintry accoutrements for a 30% discount, bringing the price down to $14 (£11.89). That discount ends on Monday.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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