Stronghold Kingdoms is turning 10 years old this month. What better way to celebrate than to release a brand new update? This one brings the new “Kingmaker” world map to Stronghold Kingdoms, which introduces a new type of historical game world. In particular, this one is based on 1300 AD Europe with its splintered nations and city states.
Stronghold Kingdoms is a game that offers online castle building, political intrigue, and siege warfare. With the new world map, players can expect to experience what should be a different political structure. Be ready for a massive war as hundreds of players take on the role of kings and fight for power.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about Stronghold Kingdoms, don’t worry as we’re going to take a journey into the past. Stronghold Kingdoms was developed by Firefly Studios and was launched in open beta back in November 2010. From starting as a small prototype, it became Firefly’s most successful title and saving the studio from collapse. In a press statement, Firefly revealed that Stronghold Kingdoms was developed at a time when the studio had to scale down its operations mainly due to the 2008 recession and its impact on investors. For lack of a better term, Firefly said that the game was their “hail Mary shot.”
Given the lack of resources, Firefly needed to make an MMO with only a handful of developers. In order to test out early builds, Firefly invited players who provided feedback. These would later become the game’s core fans that later helped improve Stronghold Kingdoms even further. Having the ability to self-publish the title on Steam, the studio was not only able to find a new audience, but also able to host thousands of active players on a monthly basis.
A decade later, Stronghold Kingdoms has become Firefly’s most popular game not only in terms of active player count, but also in revenue. In fact, many of the alpha and beta players still play the game even today. As of this year, Stronghold Kingdoms continues to host 150,000 active users every month.
Stronghold Kingdoms is a castle MMO where players build their village economy and then design a mighty stronghold in order to protect it. Get to farm peacefully, engage in political mind games, seek vengeance on enemies, or better yet, lead armies to glory.
