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Crusader Kings III's Loading Screens Are Masterpieces

<i>Crusader Kings III's</i> Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins
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Paradox’s grand strategy games have always had loading screen art—something you see a lot of over the months/years you play these games—that can best be described as “functional”. Crusader Kings III throws that tradition straight off the parapet with some absolutely gorgeous works of art by industry legend Craig Mullins.

When Paradox first announced Mullins’ participation with the game, they said they “went straight for the top” in hiring him, and that is not an exaggeration. Mullins’ painterly look has left more of an impact on this medium than I think we could ever cover in a single post, having helped bring to life the worlds of everything from Fallout to Assassin’s Creed to Halo.

Indeed, the art we use on this very feature’s page description is by Mullins.

Below, you’ll find each of the game’s five loading screens, all of them by Mullins, all of them soon to be ornately framed and hung somewhere in my office.

If you want to get lost in his previous stuff, though, you’ll find loads of it on his personal site.

Image for article titled Crusader Kings III&#39;s Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins
Image for article titled Crusader Kings III&#39;s Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins
Image for article titled Crusader Kings III&#39;s Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins
Image for article titled Crusader Kings III&#39;s Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins
Image for article titled Crusader Kings III&#39;s Loading Screens Are Masterpieces
Illustration: Craig Mullins