Kingmakers: Everything We Know About the Medieval Shooter

Last Updated: November 3, 2025

In an industry saturated with sequels and familiar formulas, a new contender has stormed the battlefield, capturing the imagination of millions. That game is Kingmakers, a time-traveling, genre-bending epic from developer Redemption Road Games. Since its explosive reveal, the game has consistently dominated the top of the Steam wishlists, fueled by a brilliantly chaotic premise: what if you could bring a modern arsenal back in time to change the course of a medieval war?

As anticipation builds for its planned 2024 Early Access launch, we're diving into everything we know about this potential game-of-the-year candidate.

What is Kingmakers? A New Kind of Power Fantasy

Kingmakers presents a concept that is immediately, powerfully appealing. Players take on the role of an elite operative from a dying future, sent 500 years into the past to a war-torn, medieval England. The mission: alter history to prevent a future apocalypse. The method: unleash the full might of 21st-century warfare on unsuspecting armies of knights, archers, and spearmen.

Gameplay trailers have showcased a thrilling fusion of third-person shooting and real-time strategy, playable in both solo and up to four-player co-op. In one moment, you're directly in the action, mowing down platoons with an assault rifle, strafing enemy lines in a pickup truck, or sniping castle guards from a distant hill. The next, you can seamlessly switch to a god-like strategic view, commanding thousands of your allied medieval soldiers, directing cavalry charges, and positioning archers to rain death upon enemy strongholds.

It’s a power fantasy that combines the grand-scale battles of a Total War game with the explosive, boots-on-the-ground action of a modern military shooter. This unique blend of genres is precisely what propelled Kingmakers to the top of Steam wishlists, promising an experience unlike any other on the market.

The Weight of Viral Anticipation

Becoming one of the most-wishlisted games on a platform as massive as Steam is both a blessing and a curse. It guarantees a colossal audience at launch but also creates immense pressure to deliver a product that meets sky-high expectations. Following its viral announcement in early 2024, developer Redemption Road Games, known for Road Redemption, has been navigating this pressure with a clear focus on quality.

Rather than rush to capitalize on the hype, the studio, alongside publisher tinyBuild, has taken a measured approach. They successfully conducted a closed playtest in February 2024, gathering crucial feedback from players to refine gameplay, squash bugs, and optimize performance. This deliberate pace, while agonizing for eager fans, is a positive sign. It underscores a commitment to ensuring the game’s ambitious mechanics work in harmony and that the initial Early Access launch is as polished as possible. A buggy or unfinished release could do more long-term damage to a groundbreaking new IP than a well-managed development cycle.

The Road to Launch: What’s Next for Kingmakers?

With the successful playtest complete, all eyes are on the official launch. Redemption Road Games has confirmed that Kingmakers is targeting a 2024 release into Steam Early Access. While a specific date has not yet been announced, this window keeps the hype train rolling and sets a clear timeline for the year.

The key questions on everyone's mind are what the Early Access version will contain and when that final release date will drop. Based on the footage and developer updates, players can likely expect a substantial portion of the game's core loop: engaging in battles, building up their kingdom, and experimenting with the anachronistic chaos of bringing grenade launchers to a sword fight.

For now, the prospect of calling in a helicopter air strike to shatter a line of charging knights remains a tantalizing future-past promise. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as soon as Redemption Road and tinyBuild release more information on the launch of this time-twisting medieval epic.