Release
Kingmakers playtest
The Kingmakers Steam page has a Request Access button for a playtest. Pressing it adds you to the list. It does not download anything, because entry is by invitation: Steam emails you when the developer lets more players in. When the button went up, the game director said the test itself had not opened yet, and in a later reply he said no invites had been sent.
How to request access
- Open the store page, signed in
Go to the Kingmakers store page in the Steam app or a browser, logged in to your Steam account.
- Find the playtest panel
Scroll to the block titled Join the Kingmakers Playtest, the one pictured above.
- Press Request Access
Confirm in the box that opens. Nothing downloads at this point.
- Wait for Steam’s email
The page shows no further sign-up step, and entry conditions have not been announced.
This is how the store page itself describes it:
“Request access and you’ll get notified when the developer is ready for more participants.”
Steam store page. From the Kingmakers Steam store page
Requested access but still cannot play?
A request is a place on the sign-up list, not an invitation. The director describes rolling admissions as the test scales up, so there is no published result day to count down to. He also denied a specific date proposed in a forum thread; that prediction was not a test announcement. Reply in Paul Fisch replying to a proposed playtest date, Steam discussions
| What you have | What it means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Only a request for access | You have asked to join. It does not establish that you were admitted. | Wait for Steam’s notification; there is no published queue position or guaranteed wait. |
| No email or playable entry | Nothing here establishes a rejection, either. | Check the email attached to the Steam account you used, including spam. Keep your request on that account. |
| Steam has granted you access | This is a different step from signing up. | Check that account’s library and any instructions from Steam or the developers. This site has no build to download. |
| An offer to sell a testing place | The director says testing access has never been sold. | Use the official Steam page. Do not treat payment as a way to move up the queue. |
The public demo and paid Early Access release have separate plans. A missing playtest invite does not give either of them a release date. For the broader status, see the Kingmakers release date.
What the director said when sign-up opened
Not when the sign-up opened. Asked on the forum whether anyone had an invite, the game director replied:
“It’s not open yet, we are planning to open it soon.”
The announcement that put the button up talks about “a big wave of invites” coming soon. Asked the next day whether invites would go to everyone or at random, the director gave the direction but not the method:
“The current plan is that we will be opening it up more and more overtime.”
Whether places are drawn at random or in order has not been said, so there is no known advantage in requesting early or late.
Two later replies, in separate threads, say where things stand (asked whether anyone had received a playtest yet) and how the timing works (asked when results would be announced):
“We have not sent any out yet.”
“It is going to be continuous rolling admissions as we scale up. So there is no specific time.”
That answers a question that came up in the forum, when the results are announced: there is no announcement day. People are let in over time, and Steam emails you when it is your turn.
The earlier no-invites reply describes the test at the time of that answer. It does not establish how many people have access now.
What is still unknown
Open: How many placesNo number for this test. Earlier tests were usually around 200 people, as described below.
Open: How long it runsNot announced.
Open: Whether there is an NDANot stated for this test. Earlier testers were under one.
Open: Region limitsNot stated.
Open: Streaming or recordingNot stated for this test. Earlier testers were asked to record their play for the developers.
Open: Whether progress carries overNot stated.
How earlier playtests worked
Before this button existed, the official FAQ told players to sign up for playtests through the Kingmakers Discord. Asked what it took to be picked, the game director described those tests:
“Well if you say you won’t record your playthrough they aren’t going to pick you. We watch all the videos and they are really important for us.”
“The thing is a lot of people have signed up, and playtests are only around 200 people usually.”
Those testers were under an NDA; the director has mentioned testers who “broke NDA”. None of this has been restated for the Steam playtest, so treat it as how things worked before rather than the rules now. One figure is for a single, smaller test:
“The playtest in December is not going to be open. It is going to be around 100 of the people who have signed up, but thousands of people have signed up for playtests, so I don’t want everyone to think they are going to be playing Kingmakers in December.”
Paul Fisch, game director. From Paul Fisch on the December playtest, Steam discussions
Places have never been sold. When a player claimed someone was charging for tester access, the director answered: “There is no paid access to testing and there never has been.”
The director has also said testers are picked across a wide range of hardware, and that some have played on a Steam Deck. What that means for handheld play is on Kingmakers on Steam Deck, and the PC specs currently listed are on Kingmakers system requirements.
Playtest, demo and Early Access are three different things
Exists now
Playtest
Invite-only. Today it is a list you can join from the Steam page.
Paid release, no date
Early Access
The first version you can buy, on Steam.
If you want the shortest route to playing, requesting playtest access is it; the other options are on how to play Kingmakers now.