Kingmakers: an ambitious medieval sandbox from tinyBuild and Redemption Road Games
- Kingmakers – a medieval sandbox from tinyBuild and Redemption Road Games.
- Players will travel to England in 1403 to change the course of the war.
- The demonstration showcased co-op, large-scale battles, and strategic mode.
- The game runs on a modified Unreal Engine 4, with no release date yet.
During the online conference tinyBuild Connect 2026, the studio Redemption Road Games, together with the publisher tinyBuild, showcased the first gameplay session of their project Kingmakers. The demonstration lasted twelve minutes and covered the main game modes, immediately attracting the attention of both players and analysts.
Plot and goal
The game transports participants back five centuries to real England at the beginning of the 15th century. The main character is the Welsh landowner Owain Glyndŵr, who is set to lead a rebellion, turning it into a powerful empire and challenging King Henry V. The idea is that success in this alternative past should change the course of the bloody war and steer the world away from the impending apocalypse.
Gameplay features
The developers demonstrated a cooperative mode for four players, where each can influence large-scale battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers. Additionally, Kingmakers features a total destruction system, the ability to manage the construction of settlements, and strategic army planning. An important element is the modern arsenal that allows combining medieval tactics with technological innovations.
Special attention is given to large-scale battles: players can personally participate in skirmishes and observe the actions of their allies in real time. The demonstration showed how easy it is to switch between micromanaging an individual fighter and macro-managing an entire army.
The technical part of the project is built on a modified version of Unreal Engine 4. According to the developers, such changes allow for the most efficient use of the resources of the central and graphics processors, ensuring smooth gameplay even with huge numbers of units on the screen.
After the broadcast, users in the chats expressed admiration for the scale and technical boldness of the project. One commentator compared Kingmakers to the upcoming GTA VI, noting that 'against such an ambitious backdrop, GTA VI looks simply pathetic.' Such feedback indicates a growing interest in the game and anticipation for its release.
Currently, Kingmakers is being developed exclusively for PC and will be available in the Steam and Epic Games Store. After the release date was postponed to 2025, the exact date has not yet been announced, but registration for upcoming testing sessions is already open through the project's page on the Valve service.
The project fits into the current trend of historical open worlds where players can influence the course of history. If Kingmakers realizes its stated capabilities, it could become one of the most extensive and technologically advanced representatives of the genre.
Thus, the 12-minute showcase has already provided a glimpse of what awaits players: a deep strategic layer, massive battles, and the opportunity to rewrite history. Anticipation continues to grow, and the developers promise further updates and more detailed demonstrations in the coming months.
Source: 3DNews
