CKII Subscription Service

[PDX_Pariah]

Howdy all,

Sorry for the surprise information after not hearing from us for a while, but we have some super cool stuff to tell you. We are glad to bring you the launch of a new subscription service to the Crusader Kings 2 Game experience!

Crusader Kings II is now available via subscription, giving users a convenient way to enjoy all of the medieval plotting and politicking that has made Crusader Kings a beloved game for strategists and role players alike. Subscribers will have automatic access to every piece of Crusader Kings II content with no other purchases necessary.

Things to look forward to in this Subscription Service:

• 13 major expansions, including the fierce Norse of The Old Gods, the eastern riches of Rajas of India and the scheming vassals of Conclave.
• 12 unit packs, including new army sprites for your medieval forces
• 14 music packs, including two heavy metal scores
• 10 portrait packs of clothing and faces for rulers around the world
• The Game Converter which lets you export your saved game to Europa Universalis IV.
• The Crusader Kings II Ruler Designer, so you can create your own starting monarch.
• and many more improvements to the core game experience.

The Crusader Kings II base game is currently available for free on the Steam store.

What does the subscription include?

The subscription will allow you to play Crusader Kings II with all of the available content included - expansion packs, portraits, clothing and music packs.

Why is this a subscription?

With so much additional content available, the cost for new Crusader Kings II players can seem prohibitive or intimidating. This is an affordable way for players to experience the entire Crusader Kings II catalog without having to weigh which items they would prefer to purchase.

This does not mean it is the only way to get DLC moving forward. The Subscription service is entirely optional and purchasing a single or multiple DLC packs without the Subscription is still an option.

I already have every Crusader Kings II thing. Will this affect me?

No. Nothing will change for people who already own any or all Crusader Kings II content.

What happens if I stop subscribing?

If you stop subscribing, you will lose access to any content you have not separately purchased or downloaded. (The Crusader Kings II base game is free.)

Will you be bringing subscriptions to other games?

Subscription plans are an option we are exploring for other Paradox titles.

Subscribe to Crusader Kings II on Steam!

 

[Monkbel]

I had to spend some time googling to find this subscription, here is the link to save you all the effort: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538960/Crusader_Kings_II__Expansion_Subscription/

 

[Herr B.]

This is bad.

Do not even start with this.

A better way would be to integrate DLCs into the basegame after a period of time (like 2 years).

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

As long as subscriptions are only another option, then what do i care, but if they became the only or best way to get access to a game,
then hell...

anyway...back on topic as such..

--

The OP doesn't explain how this works.
For anyone not accustomed to the subscribtion model, that might leave them confused, like me.

So is this 4,99 for the first day and buying the subscription and then for the next 30 days begining with the second day 4,99 again
or both at once, so a subscription for 30 days required right away and actually 9,98 ?

Is this 30 days playing or 30 general days ?

PS : The answer below in post #8, simply 4,99 for each 30 days until cancelation.

Why describe something in a simple way, when making it pointlessly convoluted and potentialy creating misunderstandings
is also an option.. (extended german proverb)

 

[BjornB]

This is bad.

Do not even start with this.

A better way would be to integrate DLCs into the basegame after a period of time (like 2 years).

But the basegame is free :/

I'm afraid we can't really give away the entire thing for free just yet.

 

[andry18]

That's bad on so many levels...

 

[Herr B.]

But the basegame is free :/

I'm afraid we can't really give away the entire thing for free just yet.

Yeah, for CK2 it's to late. I was primarily reacting to the last point, that you want to try this method for your other games.

EDIT:
Let me explain, why it is bad: With a subscription, the devs have no incentive anymore to produce good looking games. After a cursed DLC like Golden Century, the communities reaction would have been completly ignored with this kind of approach. Gladly, the subscription service was not launched yet and the devs have changed for the good (quite significantly).

A second reason: Sometimes, you want to come back to an old game. I even enjoy MotE sometimes (rarely, but still).

 

[BjornB]

The OP doesn't explain how this works.
For anyone not accustomed to the subscribtion model, that might leave them confused, like me.

So is this 4,99 for the first day and buying the subscription and then for the next 30 days begining with the second day 4,99 again
or both at once, so a subscription for 30 days required right away and actually 9,98 ?

Is this 30 days playing or 20 general days ?

You pay 4.99 for access to all content for 30 days. Then you pay another 4.99 if you want another 30 days and so on.

 

[BjornB]

Yeah, for CK2 it's to late. I was primarily reacting to the last point, that you want to try this method for your other games.

We've been running this for EU4 to a select group of players for quite some time now and the response has been positive.

Obviously this is not something for people that already own all or most of the content. But for someone that just started and only have the free base game it might be a more attractive deal than to buy all the content in one go (which adds up to a rather hefty amount one must admit). With this solution, a new player can gain access to all content with a more reasonable spending.

 

[Arcvalons]

This would be useful for games I've fallen behind on, content-wise, which is just EU4 really, but I already have everything for CK2.

 

[BjornB]

I had to spend some time googling to find this subscription, here is the link to save you all the effort: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538960/Crusader_Kings_II__Expansion_Subscription/

Thank you Monkbel. This was an oversight - I added a link to OP

 

[BjornB]

This would be useful for games I've fallen behind on, content-wise, which is just EU4 really, but I already have everything for CK2.

Then I understand why this is not very exciting to you. But I hope you can see how it could be to other people

 

[Kuzma Minin]

Why not just sell older products at a discount instead of doing this?

 

[Bawrai]

I subscribe to Netflix because there is new content so is there going to be new content for CK2? I already have all the DLCs and paid for the base game what if in future they decide just to have sub will I lose access?

 

[Chief of Staff]

We've been running this for EU4 to a select group of players for quite some time now and the response has been positive.

Obviously this is not something for people that already own all or most of the content. But for someone that just started and only have the free base game it might be a more attractive deal than to buy all the content in one go (which adds up to a rather hefty amount one must admit). With this solution, a new player can gain access to all content with a more reasonable spending.

Now I think about it, subscription could be a good way to test out DLCs before purchasing it. Would it be still possible to convert a DLC that I have not purchased yet into a purchase during the subscription if I like that DLC enough to do so? Or do I need to wait until canceling the subscription?

 

[Aardvark Bellay]

You pay 4.99 for access to all content for 30 days. Then you pay another 4.99 if you want another 30 days and so on.

Okay. (edit : So 4,99 for each 30 days until cancelation.. Simple as that.)
I just wondered as neither the german nor the english description on Steam made that clear to me.

Steampage in english :

4,99€ at checkout, auto-renewed every 30 day(s) at 4,99€

That at least gives me the idea that i might have bought the game for 30 days use initally, while not actually saying that i do get 30 days
with the first 4,99 payment after checkout.

Steampage in german :

4,99€ Kaufpreis, danach automatisch 4,99€ für 30 weitere(n) Tag(e).

which translated with DeepL says

4,99€ purchase price, then automatically 4,99€ for 30 more day(s).

and implies to me what i thought and said above first, that the inital 4,99 would be just a buy price, but not a use price, so to speak.
The "weitere Tage"/"more days" isn't obviously meaning to me that i already get 30 with the first payment.

Maybe i'm too sceptical and stubborn , but it leaves an ambigious message with me.
I might not be the only one misunderstanding it then. Well maybe, but you know...
That was all.
Cheers

 

[Mindel]

You might get a more positive reaction if you complement this announcement with a bug-fixing patch. Just saying.

 

[Herr B.]

I now have seen the price, an it is a rip-off. 5 €/ month?

CK2 was in development for 8 years. 5 x 12 x 8 = 480 €. The DLCs are summing to 173 € (only actual content, not graphics/music). So, PDX is charging almost 3x the amount.

 

[BjornB]

Why not just sell older products at a discount instead of doing this?

This content is regularly on a 50-75% discount. But permanent price changes aren't common with Paradox products at this time.

I subscribe to Netflix because there is new content so is there going to be new content for CK2? I already have all the DLCs and paid for the base game what if in future they decide just to have sub will I lose access?

As I explained earlier: this is primarily aimed at new players that doesn't already own a lot of content. I dare to promise you that we will never remove access to the game for those who bought it only to force you into the subscription service.

Now I think about it, subscription could be a good way to test out DLCs before purchasing it. Would it be still possible to convert a DLC that I have not purchased yet into a purchase during the subscription if I like that DLC enough to do so? Or do I need to wait until canceling the subscription?

Hmmm... Good question. I would suspect that you had to wait for the subscription to end first.

Okay.
I just wondered as neither the german nor the english description on Steam made that clear to me.

Steampage in english :

That at least gives me the idea that i might have bought the game for 30 days use initally, while not actually saying that i do get 30 days
with the first 4,99 payment after checkout.

Steampage in german :

which translated with DeepL says


and implies to me what i thought and said above first, that the inital 4,99 would be just a buy price, but not a use price, so to speak.
The "weitere Tage"/"more days" isn't obviously meaning to me that i already get 30 with the first payment.

Maybe i'm too sceptical and stubborn , but it leaves an ambigious message with me.
I might not be the only one misunderstanding it then. Well maybe, but you know...

Ah, I can see the confusion. Will pass on this feedback.

 

[BjornB]

I now have seen the price, an it is a rip-off. 5 €/ month?

CK2 was in development for 8 years. 5 x 12 x 8 = 480 €. The DLCs are summing to 173 € (only actual content, not graphics/music). So, PDX is charging almost 3x the amount.

Obviously the subscription would end up costing more than buying it eventually. This is kind of inherited in the whole subscription model for everything, not just CK2.

I also want to point out that you can still buy everything the old-school way if you prefer that.