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Stronghold 4 was revealed to the world at the PC Gaming Show today, which despite the title is actually the 10th game in the long-running series of games where you design medieval castles, build them up, and then smash ’em down—the castles that belong to your sworn enemies, anyway.
The first thing you’ll notice, because it’s the first thing in the trailer, is the presence of Samantha Béart and Ben Starr, known for star-making roles in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, among numerous others. (Yes, I know, Ben Starr is also big in FF16, don’t @ me.) They’re unexpectedly enthusiastic about the new Stronghold—perhaps because they’re not just here to reveal the new game, they’re actually in it too.
Stronghold 4 looks very much like a Stronghold game, but developer Firefly Studios says it’s the “most ambitious” entry in the series yet, developed in Unreal Engine 5. Castle design and construction is closely interconnected with economic systems and supply chains to deliver a deep “castle simulator,” bolstered by weather effects, day-night cycles, and changing terrain.
As with its predecessor, Stronghold 4 will feature a full narrative campaign laced with the series’ well-known humor to go along with the deep sim stuff, with returning fan-favorite characters and all-new cinematics. For players who prefer to stick to the building and smashing part of things, the game will support multiplayer action for up to eight players and co-op skirmish missions.
The Stronghold series could use a strong new entry: It’s 25 years old now (the first game released in 2001) and it hasn’t been what you’d call a consistent winner across that quarter century. In his 2021 review of Stronghold: Warlords, for instance, reviewer Robert Zak asked, “Can the latest entry in the struggling series rebuild its strong foundations?” And the answer was, simply, no: The game was fine and castle sieges remained excellent, but too much of the rest of it felt “too thin” to properly support the experience
The 2023 Definitive Edition remake of the original Stronghold, by comparison, has been very well received, holding a “very positive” rating across nearly 9,500 user reviews on Steam, and if Firefly is able to build on that success with this new mainline entry, it could be a surprise hit. Stronghold 4 is expected to launch later in 2026, and a demo is coming to Steam on June 23.