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Stronghold Crusader 2
Stronghold Crusader 2 is the long awaited sequel to the original castle sim. After 12 years Stronghold returns to the desert with a new 3D engine and powerful Havok Physics. Crusader 2 recaptures the original game’s addictive, fast-paced gameplay and authentic castle simulation.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
18 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“The game is pretty good for those who like to play strategy games set in the Middle Ages. Part 2 has advanced a lot in terms of graphics and construction mechanics, but there are a lot of BUTs.... Firstly, the campaigns…”
“very fun”
“Good as a RTS, nice as a stronghold game Bad points: AI in skirmish modes are rigged. They have unlimited resources appearing from nowhere, I sieged an AI for 30 minutes, tested all possibilities to starve it to death,…”
6 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“The game is pretty good for those who like to play strategy games set in the Middle Ages. Part 2 has advanced a lot in terms of graphics and construction mechanics, but there are a lot of BUTs.... Firstly, the campaigns…”
“An improvement on the origional. Better physics, better graphics better game engine. No real downsides to this release. Build castles, fight your enemies, conquer the map.”
15 of the 101 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“I got a RTX 4080 Super and 96 Gb of RAM Intel I9. The game still crashes. Why does this need a building limit? Everything is expensive and dead slow. The AI is just ridicolous with cheating and is extremely unbalanced.…”
9 of the 101 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“I got a RTX 4080 Super and 96 Gb of RAM Intel I9. The game still crashes. Why does this need a building limit? Everything is expensive and dead slow. The AI is just ridicolous with cheating and is extremely unbalanced.…”
“The game is pretty good for those who like to play strategy games set in the Middle Ages. Part 2 has advanced a lot in terms of graphics and construction mechanics, but there are a lot of BUTs.... Firstly, the campaigns…”
“Good as a RTS, nice as a stronghold game Bad points: AI in skirmish modes are rigged. They have unlimited resources appearing from nowhere, I sieged an AI for 30 minutes, tested all possibilities to starve it to death,…”
9 of the 101 reviews raise this.
“I got a RTX 4080 Super and 96 Gb of RAM Intel I9. The game still crashes. Why does this need a building limit? Everything is expensive and dead slow. The AI is just ridicolous with cheating and is extremely unbalanced.…”
“This game doesn't hold up, even for the year that it came out. The tutorials offered do a really poor job of explaining how the systems work. I found this particularly bad for the unit recruitment. I also experiences a…”
“It's mostly okay, apart from random crashes, and one of the AI's, the Princess, I think, being so bugged they don't even build or recruit troops. Not as bad as 3, but you're probably better off with Crusader DE.”
5 of the 101 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
3 of the 101 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
Counted across 101 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 72.2% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Stronghold Crusader 2 is a popular isometric action game. Compared to the old Rise of Nations (2003) this game is more designed around castles with a larger game world. This game needs more memory which suggest a 64-bit version would go far. I played this on my Lenovo P52 with…”
— a player, Steam review · 2 hrs played“**A Review of *Stronghold Crusader 2*** *By Arthur Schopenhauer* The original was a painting: warm, hand-wrought, each camel and crossbowman rendered with the patient sincerity of the miniaturist. The desert glowed. The castles, though crude in geometry, possessed *weight*. One…”
— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played“Definitely much weaker than its predecessor. The atmosphere feels bland, the story is forgettable, and the unit limit takes away a lot of the fun. On top of that, the AI feels poorly designed and frustrating to deal with. Sadly, I can’t really recommend this one.”
— a player, Steam review · 39 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-23 23:45 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Crusader: DE - Update & DLC 1 Reveals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn98HHTPl4k With your help Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition has charged into the breach and emerged from its launch victorious! The response from fans has been n
Stronghold Crusader: DE - Out Now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZanPPwupPz4 The time is NOW, Sire! The long march is finally over and your forces have finally arrived at our divine destination - Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Editi
Stronghold Crusader: DE - Roadmap Reveal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71UzpnLOH7U Updates and DLC To Add New Lords, Customisation and More! Good Day, Sire! Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition is now less than two weeks from launch, so
New Coop Trailer & Next Fest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXejCnia8tc Good tidings, Sire! Steam Next Fest is now live and with it our second public demo for Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition . Showcasing the latest fixes
Feature Spotlight: 10k Unit Cap, Mosques & More!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6TBaUA8QQ Good morrow, my liege! After 150,000 demo downloads, three times as many as Stronghold: Definitive Edition... We have channelled thousands of your Stronghol
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.
| Genres | Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · Medieval · City Builder · RTS · Multiplayer · Simulation · Historical · Co-op · Building · Classic · Singleplayer · Resource Management (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Co-op · Online Co-op · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian * , German * , Spanish - Spain * , Polish * , Russian * , Portuguese - Brazil, Japanese, Simplified Chinese * |
| Achievements | 81 |
| Estimated owners | 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.strongholdcrusader2.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 7/8/10/11 with latest service packs Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2Ghz or equivalent Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB or AMD Radeon HD 2900XT 512MB or better DirectX: Version 9.0c Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 4 GB available space