The game
Kingmakers factions
The Gameplay Deep Dive and the developer blogs both put you on one side: Owain Glyndŵr’s Welsh rebellion against England. The enemies named are English barons and nobles, and Scotland appears as ground you conquer, not a side you pick. The developers have said they want new factions after Early Access, and when a player asked to play as the English, a developer account answered “Eventually!” with no date. A choice between England, Scotland and Wales at launch has not been announced.
Wales first
Early Access focuses on the Welsh campaign. Asked about playing as the English, a developer account answered “Eventually!”, with no date. Scotland has not been named as a playable side. What would change this: a date for the English side, or a developer post naming more playable factions.
The sides, as the developers describe them
Your side
The Welsh rebellion
“In Kingmakers, you travel to 1403 to help Owain Glyndwr transform a Welsh rebellion into an empire.”
Redemption Road. Said in the tinyBuildGAMES video: Kingmakers - Gameplay Deep Dive
The enemy
English lords
“English barons and nobles will throw massive armies at your settlements.”
Redemption Road. Said in the tinyBuildGAMES video: Kingmakers - Gameplay Deep Dive
Scotland
Territory
“As you expand your conquest across England and Scotland, you’ll earn experience to permanently upgrade your character class”
Redemption Road. Said in the tinyBuildGAMES video: Kingmakers - Gameplay Deep Dive
The missions point the same way. The Deep Dive’s examples are besieging an enemy castle, hunting down an English spy and escorting Welsh noblemen, all in service of the rebellion.
“A mission might task you with sieging an enemy castle, chasing down an English spy, or escorting Welsh noblemen through your territory.”
Redemption Road. Said in the tinyBuildGAMES video: Kingmakers - Gameplay Deep Dive
Who you are in all this
Not a Welsh lord. You play someone from the future, sent back to change how the rebellion ends. In the studio’s own words:
“As an American mercenary, you are sent back to the 15th century to aid Glyndŵr’s rebellion and restore the original timeline.”
Redemption Road. From Steam announcement: Kingmakers Dev Blog #3, Picking a Fight with History
That timeline, and why the game’s version of history has Wales winning, is on Kingmakers story and setting. In co-op, every player is on that same side, each with an army of their own; see Kingmakers co-op and multiplayer.
New factions, wanted for later
“Post-Early Access, we want to add new factions such as the Scottish or French, have epic castle sieges, deeper troop officer systems, and maybe even a PvP mode.”
Redemption Road. From Steam announcement: Dev Blog #1, Meet the Troops You'll Command in Kingmakers
Two things that sentence does not say: whether those factions would be playable or would be new enemies, and when they would arrive beyond after Early Access. It is a wish list from a developer blog written before the delay. Where it sits among the other plans is on what Kingmakers Early Access includes.
The newer answer came under the Gameplay Deep Dive announcement. A player wrote that they wanted to play as the English, not the Welsh, and an account with Steam’s developer badge replied:
“Eventually! The EA release would be focused on Welsh campaign, but we of course will be adding more factions in the future”
Read against the question, that is a yes for the English, eventually, with the Welsh campaign first. It gives no timing, says nothing about Scotland or the French, and does not say every new faction will be playable. The campaign screen headed Welsh Campaign is read in detail on the Kingmakers campaign map.
Claims to be careful with
No source: Choose to fight for England, Scotland or WalesAn uncited Wikipedia claim, also repeated in a GamingBolt feature. Nothing from the studio describes picking a side at the start.
Partly sourced: A Welsh campaign only in Early Access, England and Scotland later as playable factionsFirst passed around on Reddit. Most of it has since been backed by the developers: the reply above puts the Welsh campaign first and answers “Eventually!” to playing as the English. Scotland as a playable side has not been said.
Open: Multiple endingsClaimed alongside the faction choice in the same two places; not stated by the studio.
One on-screen detail is real: the mission-select screen shown in the Deep Dive is headed Welsh Campaign. It is pictured on the story page. What it does not tell you is whether other campaigns exist.