Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver Release Time: When It Unlocks

Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver unlocks on Steam at 17:00 UTC on Tuesday, November 17, 2026. Paradox’s own announcement is titled “Available November 17th”, and the hour comes from the Steam listing’s release countdown: 9 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. GMT, 6 p.m. CET, and 2 a.m. JST the following morning. It is one moment for everyone, not a rolling regional rollout.

Quick answer:

1. Silk & Silver unlocks on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 at 17:00 UTC.
2. In the United States that is 9 a.m. Pacific and 12 p.m. Eastern. The UK gets it at 5 p.m. GMT and Central Europe at 6 p.m. CET, still on the 17th.
3. Japan gets it at 2 a.m. JST on Wednesday, November 18, Sydney at 4 a.m. AEDT and Auckland at 6 a.m. NZDT, also on the 18th.
4. It costs $29.99 / £25.99 / €29.99 and you need the base game. Steam’s Chapter V bundle includes this expansion and lists at $43.99.
5. No pre-load time is published. Paradox says the expansion ships with its Update 1.21.

When does Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver unlock?

Paradox Interactive’s press release states it plainly: “Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver will be available on 17 November 2026 for the suggested retail price of $29.99/£25.99/€29.99. It is also available as a part of Chapter V for Crusader Kings III.” The company’s official announcement post on the Crusader Kings III Steam page is headed “Crusader Kings III: Silk & Silver – Available November 17th” and says the expansion arrives “when it releases on November 17th”.

The hour is on the Steam store page for the expansion itself. It shows “Planned Release Date: Nov 17, 2026”, adds “This content plans to unlock in approximately 2 weeks”, and carries a release timestamp of 17:00 UTC. That is the source for every clock time on this page.

One date correction, because it matters if you pre-ordered on the old information: an early news report put the launch on November 19. Paradox’s own release and the Steam listing both say November 17, and we fixed our own date to match them.

What time does it unlock in the US, UK and Europe?

US daylight saving ended on November 1, 2026, so the clock is on standard time that week: 9 a.m. Pacific and 12 p.m. Eastern. European summer time ended on October 25, which puts London and Berlin one hour apart exactly as the table shows.

What time does it unlock in Asia and Oceania?

Japan and Oceania are the regions that lose a day: the unlock lands on their side of the date line on November 18. Australian and New Zealand summer time is in effect, which is why Sydney sits at 4 a.m. and Auckland at 6 a.m.

How much does it cost, and do you need the base game?

The standalone expansion is $29.99 / £25.99 / €29.99, the suggested retail price in Paradox’s release. Steam’s page states plainly that “This content requires the base game”, so a new player buys Crusader Kings III as well. The base game itself is $49.99 on Steam and first launched on September 1, 2020.

The cheaper route for a new player is Steam’s Chapter V package. Chapter V is Paradox’s bundle of recent Crusader Kings III content, sold on Steam as one package. It lists five items: By God Alone, Chapter V, Silk & Silver, Songs of the Realms and Symbols of Authority, and the bundle is priced at $43.99 on the same store page. For an existing owner who only wants the trade expansion, the standalone DLC at $29.99 is the smaller bill: for example, the DLC costs $29.99 against a $43.99 bundle that also carries four older packs.

What is actually in Silk & Silver?

Paradox’s release describes it as a Major Expansion built around medieval trade, and the headline features are two new government types. Merchant is a landless merchant family at the head of a trading company, rising “from obscurity to greatness” on its wealth. Republic is a patrician family working through laws, assemblies and the office of doge, where “wealth buys power and popularity determines who retains the role.”

Underneath sits a trade system with routes for over 40 goods, three merchant specializations (Caravaneer, Creditor and Artisan), monopolies claimed through political influence, trade posts planted in foreign counties, and Trade Leagues for blocs of republics. Two new bookmarks start you off: 1066 – Channels of Commerce, the most renowned merchants of the Middle Ages, and 1178 – Guelphs & Ghibellines, a defining conflict in Northern Italy. Paradox also adds civic carnivals and a deeper Italian historical flavor.

The official announcement trailer walks through the same feature list, and our news story on the announcement has the price and date details. November 17 is on our Release Calendar and in every game releasing in November 2026.

Does it come with a game update?

Yes. In Paradox’s Update 1.20.1 notes the studio says that “given the relatively short time until the release of Silk & Silver, we will be targeting its accompanying 1.21 Update release for any changes going forward.” So the expansion ships with Update 1.21, and any balance changes from here on land there rather than in a separate patch.

Is there a console version?

Not yet. Steam lists the expansion for Windows, Mac and Linux, and Paradox’s release names only PC. No console edition has been announced, so if you play on PlayStation or Xbox this is a PC launch.

We analyzed Paradox’s press release, its own Steam announcement and the store listing side by side, and the date holds across all three: November 17, 2026. The hour only exists on the store page, which is the same pattern we have seen with other Paradox releases and the reason the countdown on this page is drawn from Steam’s own timestamp rather than an outlet’s table. The number worth planning around is the $29.99 standalone price against a $43.99 Chapter V bundle: anyone who does not already own the base game is better off buying the bundle and the base game together than the expansion alone, while existing owners should take the $29.99 DLC. The other date that matters is Japan, where the launch lands on November 18 rather than the 17th.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report