[London, United Kingdom - May 23rd, 2025] - Good morrow, my liege! After 150,000 demo downloads, three times as many as Stronghold: Definitive Edition achieved back in 2023, Firefly Studios has compiled thousands of players’ feedback for Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition. Channeling these into player requested enhancements, several key improvements are now being made for the game’s release.
Ahead of its July 15th launch, Firefly dives into some of these community requested features and confirms key information on maximum unit counts in their final ‘Feature Spotlight’ development diary.
“Demos are vital to the success of our games” said Nick Tannahill, Firefly Studio Head. “We’ve had loads of fantastic feedback come in since our January reveal and first public demo, with enough time to implement many of these requests before launch. We keep our creative vision and goals for the game, while also getting the community involved and giving them a degree of authorship. It's a win-win for us.”
Actively played since its original 2002 release by the Stronghold community, some of Crusader’s most knowledgeable and experienced players have given feedback on Firefly’s upcoming Definitive Edition. This feedback was studied in close detail ahead of the game’s reveal earlier this year, with a second round of suggestions gathered through the demo’s feedback form.
“All Crusader Extreme features will be included in Crusader: Definitive Edition, including the epic 10,000 units cap.”
Among the other features requested by players since January, including raising the overall troop count to a whopping 10,000 soldiers in a single game to match that of Stronghold Crusader Extreme, is the addition of Islamic buildings and related workers for the game’s Arabic and Bedouin Lords, as well as many vital bug fixes. The latter addresses specific exploits and issues discovered by the game’s most dedicated players across more than 20 years of play.
From map sizes up to four times the size of those available in the original, through to custom toggles for skirmish mode and online leaderboards, Firefly are striving to tick every possible box for fans of the original game, collating feedback before and after the reveal. A definitive edition should include absolutely everything players want out of Crusader and that’s what this final version of the game intends to deliver.
Wishlist Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition now on Steam ahead of the game’s full release on July 15th 2025. The desert is a cruel place to fight. Are you sure you have the heart for it?
Press Kit
About Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition is an expanded remaster of the original 2002 ‘castle sim’ from Firefly Studios. Overhauled by the original game’s veteran developers, this new definitive edition features remastered artwork, animations and music, in addition fresh gameplay content, returning voice actors and many fan-requested improvements including larger maps. Improved with new playable units, characters, campaigns and more, Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition is the ultimate way to play this classic RTS. For the latest news please visit www.StrongholdCrusader.com.
About Firefly Studios
Creators of the BAFTA nominated Stronghold series, Firefly Studios is a Devolver Digital developer of historical real-time strategy games. With more than 25 years of experience publishing titles on PC and mobile, Firefly’s games are enjoyed worldwide by a community of millions, with a dedicated international following and rich legacy in strategy gaming. Founded in 1999 by Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette of Caesar and Lords of the Realm fame, the company has brought to market many high profile and commercially successful strategy games. These include the Stronghold series with lifetime sales of more than 11 million and Stronghold Kingdoms, which currently has ten million registered players. For more information visit their website at www.fireflyworlds.com or follow @fireflyworlds.