Paradox Interactive has officially unveiled Silk & Silver, a major new expansion for its acclaimed grand strategy role-playing game, Crusader Kings III. Scheduled to launch on November 17, 2026, the DLC shifts focus toward the economic powers of the Middle Ages, allowing players to build vast wealth and influence through trade networks, merchant companies, and republican politics.
The expansion introduces the Merchant government type, letting players lead a landless family business from humble beginnings into a global trade empire. Aspiring magnates can pursue trade routes across more than 40 goods, specialising as a Caravaneer, Creditor, or Artisan. As your merchant company grows, you can spend profits to upgrade your estate, lobby royalty for backing, secure trade monopolies, and leverage loans or custom artifacts to sway continental politics.
Additionally, Silk & Silver opens up Republican governments such as Venice or Genoa – as fully playable entities. Patrician families will compete for dominance using bribery, law, and assembly votes to elect the doge and shape the state’s constitution. Republics can set up overseas trade posts, form powerful Trade Leagues, and choose specialised administrative focuses to build seafaring commercial powers, noble dynasties, or commoner-led city-states.
Rounding out the expansion are two new start dates, featuring famous medieval traders in 1066 and the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in 1178, alongside authentic Italian flavour like civic carnivals and local political feuds.
Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver arrives on November 17, 2026, for $29.99 / £25.99 / €29.99, and will also be included as part of Crusader Kings III: Chapter V.