Medieval survival game Renown is coming for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's crown

I love me a medieval game. Hand me a sword and strap me into a hulking, cumbersome set of plate armor, and I'll be happy for hours. It's a time period embedded in me from my youth, exploring British castles with my family and spending my nights thoroughly gripped by fantasy novels. Recently I've been enjoying Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, but new kid on the block Renown looks to divert my attention away from
Warhorse Studios' banger.

Putting a survival twist on the classic medieval genre, Renown pits players against one another in sprawling, 100-player servers. While you start with humble beginnings, you can eventually build castles, siege engines to assault other castles, and alliances so you can take ownership of yet more castles. There are non-castle elements too, I just find that bit particularly exciting.

Despite the trebuchets and fortifications, this survival game focuses and hand-to-hand combat. Whether you're battling an opponent one-on-one in the early stages of the game, teaming up with other players to tackle a formidable bear in the mid-game, or engaging in full-on warfare later on, your trusty sword, axe, or polearm will be your weapon of choice.

However, crafting plays an important role, too. You'll have to build every camp and all your gear from scratch, so make sure you've got the basics down before you attempt to scale a castle's walls or suchlike.

Renown successfully Kickstarted in May 2024, and has hosted numerous community playtests since. There's a lot of buzz around the game-it's a medieval game with survival elements, of course there's a buzz-so let's hope the early access period lives up to expectations. KCD2 is my current king, but I'm starting to wonder if this multiplayer offering could dethrone it…

Renown launches in early access on Steam today. You can download it here.

If that's tickled your pickle for some conflict, check out our list of the best multiplayer games. It's probably also worth checking out the best gaming monitors, so you can see every reflection in that burnished breastplate.

Will you be checking out Renown? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff compare axe-throwing techniques and discuss the latest gaming news.