Massive Game of Thrones mod for Mount and Blade 2 gets early access release

Game of Thrones and Mount and Blade go together like a Stark and an untimely death. We've already had A World of Ice and Fire, which brought George R.R. Martin's grim fantasy saga into Mount and Blade: Warband. It was inevitable that some ambitious modder would attempts to bring the treacherous lands of Westeros into the sequel to TaleWorlds' medieval life sim.

But that inevitability doesn't make Realm of Thrones any less impressive as a project. Released into Early Access yesterday, the total conversion offers a meticulous Thrones-themed overhaul of Bannerlord. Specifically, the mod transposes Bannerlord into the A Song of Ice and Fire universe around the time of the War of the Five Kings. In other words, the point in the story where all the major factions are in play.

Major features include a massive main map that adds all of Westeros and "a large part" of Essos—Game of Thrones' eastern continent "liberated" by Daenerys Targaryen. The new map includes 17 new towns and 80 villages, major landmarks like Kings' Landing and Winterfell, and 18 new kingdoms which cover most of the main competitors in Game of Thrones' race to the Iron Throne. The mod even features some simulation of life in the far north, with "Hundreds of Wights" roaming beyond the wall.

But what really impresses about Realm of Thrones is the level of detail put into the overhaul. There are unique troop types for individual houses, and "hundreds" of custom armour sets for specific factions like the Dothraki, the Thenns, and the Night's Watch. They're superb recreations too, as you can see in the header image of Jon Snow and the Night's Watch. Look at those feathery boys!

You can check out the full list of Realm of Thrones' features here, or download the current build on that same page and check it out for yourself. Obviously, you'll need a copy of Mount and Blade II to run it. The mod's creator, Carolina Warlord, also has a Discord channel you can join, and a Patreon for supporting the mod's ongoing development.

As yet there's no set date for a final release, with Realm of Thrones' ModDB page stating it is "still a work in progress and will be for a while."

PRODUCTS

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.