Back at The Game Awards in December 2024, we were instantly excited to see Game of Thrones: Kingsroad getting announced as a brand-new GoT video game, only to realise that it was coming to PC and mobile devices only.
Flash forward a few months, and Game of Thrones: Kingsroad has officially launched on Steam, Android and iOS this week - and although it's proved extremely popular, it's also received a somewhat "mixed" reception thus far.
A lot of people really do like the game, but they're being a bit drowned out by negative reviews (at least on PC - the mobile reviews are much more positive) that are criticising the use of microtransactions. Basically, some players think the development team haven't quite got the balance right.
In their review of Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, IGN also shared concerns over the monetisation element:
"While it’s naive to assume a free-to-play game such as this wouldn’t offer some form of paid content, a cash-based system has been implemented into almost every corner of what’s here, and it cheapens both the world you are exploring and any success you may find there.
Perhaps what’s most upsetting about this model is that beneath the plethora of currencies and grind-heavy progression, Kingsroad does have the capacity to capture the magic of its source material."
Maybe this is a good thing for us in Xbox land, then!
Game of Thrones: Kingsroad doesn't have a release date for Xbox yet, but we're expecting it to launch on Xbox consoles eventually. It's already attracted over a million players on Android alone, suggesting it's going to be a major hit.
It makes sense that the team at Netmarble wants to focus on a few platforms at first, and the hope is that by the time Kingsroad arrives on Xbox, they'll have made some tweaks to the microtransactions - because behind those, there seems to be a pretty good game here. The folks on Android and iOS seem to be loving it at least!
Anyway, we'll be sure to let you know when an Xbox version of Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is announced, but don't go expecting it anytime soon - we're probably looking at 2026 (or later) for a console version.
Explore the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros in the vast open world of Game of Thrones: Kingsroad. Discover vivid landscapes, massive cities, backwater towns, untamed wilderness, and the people that inhabit them.
Roam about iconic regions and locations. Take in everything from the splendor of King’s Landing to the frigid unease of Castle Black, located at the foot of the 700 feet tall Wall that stretches along the northern border of the Kingdom of the North, protecting the realm from horrors that lurk beyond.